Israeli Defense Ministry has recently decided to award disability compensation to a former Mossad agent who suffered a mental breakdown in a botched operation overseas.

The female agent, 44, took part in a covert mission conducted in an unnamed country more than a decade ago, during which her team was compromised and forced to flee to Israel, the Yediot Aharonot daily reported on Tuesday.

"We sensed her anxiety early on... At some point she locked herself in her hotel room and refused to leave... I found her there with shattered nerves, fearful and confused," the mission commander described in a written testimony accompanying the lawsuit that was submitted to the Defense Ministry.

The agent quit the Mossad upon her return to Israel, but was unable to recuperate from the trauma and was subsequently hospitalized in a closed psychiatric ward, according to Yediot.

She was later diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder -- a psychotic condition characterized by extreme mood fluctuations, hallucinations and paranoia -- and has since been treated with psychiatric drugs.

The Defense Ministry has only recently acknowledged the agent's illness, following a recommendation of an expert on its behalf, and granted her the status of a disabled veteran, which entitles her to receive lifelong compensation.