Hamas spent seven years hacking safety cameras to assemble intelligence earlier than its coordinated assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, a report has revealed.
The Palestinian group, together with allies, killed not less than 1,200 folks – largely civilians – and kidnapped 251 through the assault from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. In response, Israel’s battle on Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly your complete inhabitants since final 12 months, in response to the Gaza well being ministry.
A number of paperwork seized from Hamas operatives throughout Israel’s retaliatory motion have revealed particulars concerning spying on kibbutzim (group residing areas) that allegedly went on for not less than seven years earlier than the assault final 12 months, Israel’s Channel 12 experiences.
The Hamas operatives had additionally managed to assemble particulars concerning an Israeli kindergarten and a well being clinic. They one way or the other managed to get the IP addresses and serial numbers of all the safety cameras that had been put in within the worst-affected communities, in response to experiences.
Not simply that, they even had the telephone numbers of assorted safety guards, who had been stationed on the border, The New York Put up reported.
Footage present the surveillance photographs of the communities residing alongside the border which the Hamas militants had been capable of monitor.
“We see a really, very correct and really detailed intelligence from a military… that collects intelligence on its targets for assault and is making ready recordsdata for assault,” mentioned Shalom Ben Hanan, a former high official with Israeli spy company Shen Wager.
The Israeli officers consider that they could have gained entry to the cameras “as a result of civilians had been freely passing across the entry codes to the gadgets on WhatsApp and Telegram, which made them prime targets for hackers,” the report mentioned.
After infiltrating the emails of Israeli safety officers, Hamas received hints concerning the weakest factors on the border, whereas one of many emails, intercepted final 12 months, confirmed messages about requests for safety fencing alongside the border.
Moreover all this, the group even tracked actions of high safety officers like Sdot Negev Regional Council’s Chief Tamir Idan, his chief of workers Rafi Babian, and Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council chair Ofir Libstein, in response to experiences.
Former Eshkol Regional Council head Gadi Yarkoni shared how Hamas had even marked him as its potential goal, however failed to assemble details about him being moved to a different location.
“Apparently they’d seemed into this a very long time in the past or they did not have new info, as a result of I moved departments three years earlier than (the October 2023 assault), they usually got here to my outdated house,” he mentioned.
Criticising the Israeli Protection Forces, Yarkoni mentioned “they did not give me any clue of any of this”. He added, “I might be stunned if the (Israeli navy) did not find out about it.”