Agencies-Gaza post
Israel accuses Hezbollah of attempting to hack UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
Israel accused the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia on Wednesday of conducting a cyber operation designed to disrupt a United Nations peacekeeping mission at the border between the countries and threatened tough Israeli retaliation against enemy hackers.
The accusation to which there was no immediate response from Beirut, Tehran, or the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) came as Israeli-Iranian tensions skyrocketed.
In what he called a first public disclosure of the incident, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that “Iranian security institutions in partnership with Hezbollah (recently) launched a cyber operation with the aim of stealing materials. on UNIFIL activities and deployment in the area, on behalf of Hezbollah use.”
“This is yet another direct attack by Iran and Hezbollah on Lebanese citizens and the stability of Lebanon,” he said in a computer conference at Tel Aviv University, without elaborating.
Founded in 1978, UNIFIL patrols the southern border of Lebanon. He is in charge of monitoring the ceasefire that ended the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.
Israel accused Hezbollah gunmen of creating clandestine positions on the border in spite of UNIFIL. Lebanese officials say Israel continues to fly over its territory with air forces in violation of the ceasefire.
Gantz said that a computer unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps called “Shahid Kaveh” had “conducted research to damage ships, service stations, and industrial plants in several Western countries including Britain, the United States, France, and Israel.”
UK Sky News reported similar allegations last year, saying the Iranian embassy in London had not responded to them.
Gantz hinted that Israel which is widely believed to have waged cyberwarfare against Iran’s nuclear facilities and other infrastructure – could physically retaliate against enemy hackers.
“We know who they are, we target them and who directs them. They are in our sights as we speak, and not just in cyberspace, “he said.” There are a variety of possible responses to cyberattacks, inside and outside the cyber domain.
