Western countries gave Mossad information used to track and kill Palestinian terrorists in 1970s

The Mossad killings were in response to the 1972 Olympics attack that led to the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes. Photograph: Kurt Strumpf/AP

A secret coalition of western intelligence agencies supplied Israel with crucial information that allowed the Mossad to track and kill Palestinians suspected of involvement in terrorist attacks in western Europe in the early 1970s, newly declassified documents have revealed.

The support was offered without any oversight by parliaments or elected politicians, and, if not actually illegal, would have caused a public scandal.