The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has reportedly hacked into a Hamas television station as part of an ongoing war of information in Gaza. According to local media reports, the IDF took over the Al-Aqsa television station last weekend, and is using it to broadcast pro-Israeli military propaganda, including:
an animated clip of Hamas’ leadership being gunned down. “Time is running out,” the clip warned, in Arabic.
The day before, AFP reports, a “broadcast on Al-Aqsa television was interrupted with an image of a ringing phone that no one was answering.” ‘Hamas leaders are hiding and they are leaving you on the front line,’” a voice in “Hebrew-accented Arabic” said. Similar messages were sent out on Al-Aqsa radio, as well.
The Al-Asqa station was probably chosen because of its previous association with anti-semitic childrens’ cartoons. The station itself was also targeted and destroyed during aerial strikes last week.
Interestingly, the cyberwar in Gaza has been less one-sided than the real-world campaign. Last week, an Israeli domain name registrar fell victim to a cyberprotest hack that appears to be of Moroccan origin. However, rather than simply disabling the server, visitors were redirected to a website containing anti-Israeli propaganda. A large increase in security incursions upon Israeli IT assets has also been reported.
Clearly, the IDF’s hijack of Al-Aqsa is simply the latest battle in an ongoing cyberwar in Gaza. While the use of hijacked broadcasting assets to spread propaganda is hardly a new phenomenon, internet broadcasting attacks reflect a rapidly expanding aspect of information warfare.
