Israeli intelligence admits Hamas ‘hacks’ into IDF personnel phones

Israeli intelligence and security sources have admitted that Hamas has been successful in listening in on the telephone calls made by military personnel after hacking into their Facebook pages. “This hacking is a very dangerous development,” said an intelligence officer, although it was noted that minimal damage has been done.

In a press statement, the officer said that Hamas opened fake Facebook accounts, using pictures of attractive women, and thus gained access to phone numbers of dozens of Israeli soldiers and officers. “The hackers would strike-up a friendship with their targets and then ask them to download a calling app so that they could video chat.”

This allowed Hamas to gain control of the mobile phone cameras and operate them to receive live broadcasts without the knowledge of their owners. “They were also able to listen in on conversations.”

The intelligence agency pointed out that Hamas has obtained sensitive information via these accounts and managed to spy on military manoeuvres and operations. The hacking campaign targeted soldiers in the regular army, the reserves and Special Forces units.

The army said that it became aware of the Hamas plot after receiving reports from soldiers who said they were contacted by “suspicious characters” on the internet.