Israeli hackers claim to have taken down official Palestinian websites

A group pf Israeli hackers calling themselves “UP” claim to have successfully taken down a number of official websites run by the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

According to Anadolu news agency, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted one hacker, who called himself “D” and was affiliated with UP, as saying that his group succeeded on Tuesday to “hack and take down the website of the Palestinian Interior Ministry.”

Ironically, the hacker alleged that “Cyber-attacks are the only way we can respond” when Palestinians kill Israelis. “We succeeded to take down three large Palestinian websites and we will destroy ten websites for each Israeli casualty,” he threatened.

He added that: “The group was established recently and is controlling 800 of the PA’s computers. We are running a massive campaign to make our voice heard to the whole world.”

Meanwhile, a PA official in the Interior Ministry told Anadolu that his ministry’s website had not been targeted by any hackers.

However, he also stressed that his ministry is taking the cyber threats seriously.