Israel had sent calls and texts to people in Lebanon, asking them to evacuate any areas where Hezbollah was allegedly storing weapons, before they launched strikes against them, reported The New York Times.
According to Lebanese and Israeli officials, phone calls or texts in Arabic delivered the message – “If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice.”
The same message was also transmitted to at least one radio station as well.
Since Monday, Israel has bombed several sites across Lebanon, where they believe Hezbollah operatives have stored weapons. Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant stated that Monday’s strikes had taken out tens of thousands of Hezbollah’s rockets and missiles.
Israeli military intelligence units managed to send these alerts by hacking into Lebanon’s telecommunications system, which has been a well-honed practice used by them during operations in Lebanon and Gaza over the last decade, reported the New York Times.
After hacking into Lebanon’s communication system, they can send messages and call people within a specific geo-located area.
The Lebanese government has denied that their telecommunications system has been breached. The telecommunications minister Johnny Corm, stated that “deceptive electronic applications” had been used to exploit the network.
In response to the hack, the Lebanon government is transitioning to a more basic system which will be less susceptible to any attacks.
Israel has used the messages as proof that they tried to evacuate people from places under attack. According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, attacks carried out by Israel over two days have killed 569 people and wounded 1,835 others.
Israel itself has been vulnerable to having its communications systems compromised.
Just one week ago, the country’s National Cyber Directorate blamed Iran and Hezbollah for millions of text messages sent to Israeli phones with notes such as “If you want to live, leave.”
Lebanon’s information minister, Ziad Makary as well as members of the economic and culture ministry, received messages to leave the building they were sitting in as well. Makary told the New York Times, “This comes in the framework of the psychological war implemented by the enemy.”
