A screenshot from an Israeli site defaced by Anonymous hackers.
As the Israeli army rains shells on the Gaza strip Thursday, it’s also gone on the offensive online, posting videos of its attacks on Hamas targets and live-tweeting its campaign. Now the hacker group Anonymous has responded with a digital bombardment of its own.

In a series of attacks it’s calling “OpIsrael,” Anonymous went on a spree of website defacement and takedown attacks Thursday, calling on members to flood forty sites with junk web traffic designed to knock them offline and defacing websites including the privacy firm Israeli Security Academy and a blog the group described as belonging to the Israeli Defense Forces. “We Anonymous will not sit back and watch a cowardly Zionist State demolish innocent people’s lives.” reads one message posted to a defaced site, along with an image of smoke rising over what appears to be a Palestinian city.

Perhaps a bit hyperbolically, the message added, “We have taken down your top security and surveillance website.”
Another message on a hacked site attributes the attack to Pakistani Anonymous hackers: “The people of Pakistan are always supporting the brave people of Gaza, we love you!”

Anonymous Twitter accounts provided links to what they described as an Anonymous Gaza Care Package with tools for staying online if Israel cuts Internet service the Gaza Strip during its military action. Another hacker group, Telecomix, provided its own detailed instructions in English and Arabic for using dial-up connections, a technique it first suggested during the Egyptian Internet outage surrounding the Arab Spring protests there last year.

“To the people of Gaza and the “Occupied Territories”, know that Anonymous stands with you in this fight,” reads a press statement from the hacker group. “We will do everything in our power to hinder the evil forces of the IDF arrayed against you. We will use all our resources to make certain you stay connected to the Internet and remain able to transmit your experiences to the world.”

Gazan and Israeli forces have traded volleys of fire over the last day, inflicting damage on both military and civilian targets. By CNN’s latest count, three Israelis and 13 Palestinians had died as a result of the conflict.

Anonymous’ attacks, as usual, achieve more as propaganda than in actual damage. Most of its target sites seem to have remained online, and several downed and defaced sites seemed like random low-hanging fruit: A manufacturing an export company and a real estate law firm, for instance.

But the online attacks draw attention to the Gazan side of an information war in which Israel has been unusually aggressive: In the days leading up to its attack, the official Israeli Defense Force twitter feed has provided a constant stream of messages about its offensive in the region as well as Israeli civilian and military casualties caused by Hamas rockets fired from Gaza. Its tweets have linked to aerial videos posted to YouTube, showing the assassination of a Hamas leader and the bombing of what the IDF described as a “rocket warehouse.” By the IDF feed’s latest count, it had attacked 250 terrorist sites in retaliation for 274 rockets launched from Gaza, in addition to 105 intercepted by its “Iron Dome” missile defense system.

In one message, a popular Anonymous account offered its gratitude to the IDF for riling so many hackers with its public tweets about the conflict. “We may need to thank [the IDF twitter account],” the message read. “You bonded a lot of Anons together again. Gaining Momentum.”

[size=17pt]Anonymous warns Israel: 'No one cuts internet on our watch!'[/size]

Published: 15 November, 2012, 19:34


An Israeli protester, wearing a Guy Fawkes mask

The hacktivist group Anonymous is angry at Israel, and not just for launching deadly airstrikes on Gaza. Members say the Israeli government "crossed a line in the sand" when it threatened to sever internet and other telecommunications in Gaza. In a press statement published online, Anonymous issued a warning to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and the Israeli government, ordering them to not shut down the internet in the occupied territories and to cease and desist from their “terror upon the innocent people of Palestine.” In a tweet, the collective condemned Israel, saying it has broken 65 UN resolutions with no consequences. It then compared the situation to Iraq, which was “invaded, bombed, and destroyed” for breaking two resolutions. Anonymous’ online statement warned the Israeli government: “Like all the other evil governments that have faced our rage, you will not survive it unscathed.” The statement then turned into a message of support for the people of Gaza saying that “We will do everything in our power to hinder the evil forces of the IDF arrayed against you.” "Know that Anonymous stands with you in this fight. We will use all our resources to make certain you stay connected to the internet and remain able to transmit your experiences to the world,” the statement said. And it seems their words are being matched with actions. Anonymous has put together a “Gaza Care Package,” which contains instructions in Arabic and English to assist Palestinians in the event that the Israeli government threatens their internet connection. The package also includes information on evading IDF surveillance, along with first aid information. The collective encouraged Palestinians to download and share the package with others. Those behind the project have vowed to expand and improve the document in coming days. “No matter how dark it may seem, no matter how alone and abandoned you may feel – know that tens of thousands of us in Anonymous are with you and working tirelessly around the clock to bring you every aid and assistance that we can,” the statement said. Members are taking a more direct approach too, by contacting Israeli forces directly. A tweet from an Anonymous account to an IDF spokesperson warned, “It would be wise of you to expect us.”Anonymous has already hacked a number of Israeli websites, including advocate-israel.com. Visitors to the page see a scrolling banner which says the site was hacked by the “MexicanH Team.” A statement on the webpage says, “Stop bombing Gaza. Millions of Israelis and Palestinians are lying awake, exposed and terrified.”

Source: http://rt.com/news/gaza-israel-strike-anonymous-787/