Hackers target Israeli websites in response to 'crimes' against Palestine

The hacking collective Anonymous on Tuesday launched cyber-attacks against a number of government and non-government websites in Israel.

The attacks – known as “OpIsrael” – are part of Anonymous’s annual operations aimed at taking down Israeli sites to demonstrate opposition against the continuing occupation of the Palestinian Territories.

Several government websites were targeted – including the official Knesset portal – and appeared to be down early on Tuesday morning. Other sites hacked included the Israeli court system and Ministry of Education.

Posting to their Twitter account, Anonymous said they had leaked online the private details of more than 150,000 phone numbers and Facebook, Gmail and Hotmail accounts.

Israeli media reported that the hacking attempts have been “primarily” made by people based in Morocco and Saudi Arabia.  

In a message posted to YouTube in March, attributed to Anonymous, the collective promised an “electronic Holocaust” and said “we’ll erase you [Israel] from cyber space”.

“This is a message to the foolish Zionist entities,” a robotic voice is heard to say in the clip.

“We are coming back to punish you again for your crimes in the Palestinian Territories, as we do every year on 7 April. All we see is continuous aggression, bombing, killing and kidnapping of the Palestinian people.”

“We refuse to stand by idly in our response to these heinous crimes against humanity.”

Anonymous described the Palestinian youth as a symbol of “freedom, resistance and hope”, promising to “continue to attack until the people of Palestine are free”.

The website takedowns on Tuesday took place a week before Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, which marks the murder of an estimated six million Jews in camps run by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

Israeli authorities – including security agency Shin Bet and the National Cyber Defence Centre – have been advising citizens on how to avoid being hacked and having their private details leaked online.

Attempted takedowns are expected to take place throughout Tuesday. Israeli media reported that by mid-morning hackers had “mostly failed” and that only “a few” websites had been affected.