In July 2021, the Pegasus Project revealed that the phone of Jamal Khashoggi’s wife, Egyptian citizen Hanan Elatr, had been targeted with Pegasus before his death. The investigation also revealed that the phone number of Prime Minister of Egypt Moustafa Kemal Madbouli was selected for potential surveillance by one or several clients of NSO Group.
In December, Citizen Lab reported that the phone of exiled Egyptian politician Ayman Nour was infected with Pegasus and another spyware, Predator, in 2021. According to the research institute, the hacks were operated by two different government clients.
The same month, the Washington Post confirmed that Hanan Elatr’s phone had been targeted with Pegasus by a UAE-based agency (the UAE denied the allegations and the UAE embassy in Washington did not respond to the Post’s requests for comment).
In September 2022, Jamal Khashoggi’s wife, Hanan Elatr, announced that she planned to sue NSO Group as well as the Saudi and Emirati governments over alleged surveillance attempts on her. The Washington Post reported in June 2023 that she had indeed launched a lawsuit in the U.S. against the Israeli firm.