Israel's major media outlets hit by cyberattacks on Soleimani's assassination anniversary

In another incident of cyberattack, the websites of two Israeli media outlets were attacked by hackers on Monday (Jan 3), which also marks the second death anniversary of the country's top military officer Qasem Soleimani. According to the news agency Sputnik, the websites of Maariv Online and The Jerusalem Post were hacked. Reports of the hacking in Israel began to surface online shortly after midnight, with social media posts claiming that Maariv Online's Twitter account was compromised first.

Initially, it appeared that the account had shared three posts -- two with photographs of an explosion and the third with image of Soleimani. The image showing the explosion appeared to be a photoshopped image taken from earlier video footage purporting to show an Iranian strike on a mock-up of Israel's Dimona nuclear complex. The image, unlike the original video content, showed a projectile being ejected from a ring worn by an unidentified person. "We are close to you where you don't think about it," a caption along with the photo read as per Sputnik.

The ring displayed in the image is identical to one worn by Soleimani, leading to speculation that the individual in the photo is meant to be him. Although the strike did not affect the homepage of Maariv Online, the same could not be claimed for The Jerusalem Post, another Israeli publication. "We are aware of the apparent hacking of our website, alongside a direct threat of Israel. We are working to resolve the issue & thank readers for your patience and understanding," The Jerusalem Post stated on Twitter. According to the outlet, it is yet to be determined whether the hackers were from Iran or elsewhere.

Qasem Soleimani was killed by US drone strike on Jan 3, 2020

It is significant to mention here that on January 3, 2020, a US drone strike in Baghdad killed Qasem Soleimani, the leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force. According to Iranian military officials, the lethal drone attack involved both US and Israeli personnel. Last month, a senior US administration official stated that the US was preparing for an attack on its forces in Iraq in connection with the second anniversary of Soleimani's killing, reported ANI. 

Image: AP/Pixabay/Representative