MADRID, Spain – Fresh revelations about Morocco’s alleged use of Israeli-made Pegasus spyware have reopened one of Europe and Africa’s most sensitive surveillance scandals, after new reporting linked Moroccan intelligence to attacks on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s phone during a diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Rabat.
The latest investigation, published on July 16, 2026, says a Moroccan intelligence whistleblower known as Safir gave detailed evidence about Morocco’s use of Pegasus, the hacking tool built by Israel’s NSO Group. The Guardian reported that the spyware gave operators full remote access to mobile phones and that Morocco used it from 2017 against journalists, rights defenders, French lawmakers, Spanish politicians, and other high-value targets.
The most explosive claim concerns Spain. The Pegasus Project, a media investigation coordinated by Forbidden Stories with technical support from Amnesty International, previously found that more than 200 Spanish mobile numbers were selected as possible surveillance targets by an NSO client believed to be Morocco. Those revelations emerged as Spain investigated how Sánchez and senior ministers had been infected with Pegasus.
Spain confirmed the breach in May 2022. The government said the phones of Sánchez and Defence Minister Margarita Robles had been infected through an “illicit and external” intervention. Sánchez’s phone was targeted in May and June 2021, while Robles’s phone was targeted in June 2021. Data was extracted from both devices.
The timing matters. In May 2021, Spain and Morocco were locked in a bitter diplomatic fight after Madrid allowed Brahim Ghali, leader of the Western Sahara Polisario Front, to receive medical treatment in Spain. Morocco withdrew its ambassador from Madrid, and thousands of migrants entered Spain’s Ceuta enclave after border controls appeared to loosen. Reuters reported at the time that the move was seen as retaliation for Spain’s handling of Ghali.
That is why the Pegasus case carries such weight. If a foreign state used spyware to enter the phone of Spain’s prime minister during a diplomatic confrontation, the issue goes beyond privacy. It becomes a national security matter, a sovereignty matter, and a test of whether European states can protect leaders from private cyber weapons sold across borders.
Morocco has repeatedly denied using Pegasus. It has also taken legal action in the past against journalists who linked Rabat to spyware operations. NSO Group says Pegasus is sold only to governments for use against terrorism and serious crime, and that export approval falls under Israeli oversight. Those denials have not settled the dispute because forensic findings, leaked target lists, court records, and whistleblower accounts continue to raise questions.
Le Monde also reported on July 16, 2026, that new evidence supports claims Morocco used Pegasus. Its report cited whistleblower testimony, leaked documents, and technical indicators connecting Moroccan intelligence structures to Pegasus use. It also said Morocco’s earlier denials failed to stop judicial and media scrutiny in France and Europe.
Israel now sits at the centre of the legal dead end. Spain’s High Court closed the Pegasus investigation again in January 2026 because Israeli authorities did not cooperate with judicial requests. Reuters reported that Judge José Luis Calama said there was no way to identify suspects or move the case forward without Israeli responses.
This matters for Africa because the scandal reveals how surveillance power now moves through alliances, private companies, intelligence services, and diplomatic bargains. Pegasus is not a normal hacking tool. It can enter phones silently, extract messages, photos, files, contacts, and location data, and turn a device into a listening post. El País reported that Pegasus can take control of a phone without the owner noticing and transform it into a terminal for audio and image capture.
For Morocco, the scandal cuts into its carefully managed diplomatic image. Rabat presents itself as a stable security partner for Europe, a migration gatekeeper, and a key African state with growing regional influence. The Pegasus allegations point to another side of power, one built on secret surveillance of critics, journalists, activists, and foreign officials.
For Spain, the case raises uncomfortable questions about policy shifts after the hacks. In March 2022, Spain backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, reversing decades of neutrality and angering Algeria. No court has proved that Pegasus pressure caused the policy change. Still, the sequence keeps feeding public suspicion because the prime minister’s phone was infected during the Morocco crisis, and the legal case remains blocked.
For Israel, the damage comes from export control. NSO is a private company, but Pegasus sales require state approval. When a tool approved under Israeli oversight appears in political spying allegations against allied governments, Israel cannot treat it as a distant corporate problem. Spain’s court said non-cooperation from Israel prevented progress. Amnesty International warned in 2023 that the lack of cooperation showed a wider impunity problem around spyware abuse.
The danger for Africa is not only Morocco. Many African governments now buy surveillance systems while claiming security threats from terrorism, coups, gangs, and foreign interference. Those threats exist. But spyware aimed at journalists, opposition figures, lawyers, activists, or foreign leaders turns national security language into a cover for political control.
The Morocco-Spain Pegasus affair should force a broader debate. African states need cyber capacity, but they also need law, warrants, parliamentary oversight, courts, and public limits. Without those safeguards, digital sovereignty becomes a licence for secret abuse.
The case now stands as a warning. A phone in Madrid, a spyware company in Israel, alleged operators in Morocco, and blocked courts in Spain show how modern power works. It no longer needs tanks at the border. It enters through a screen, steals secrets, shapes diplomacy, and leaves citizens asking who watches the watchers.
