Israel‘s preparations to strike homes and buildings in southern Lebanon where it claimed Hezbollah was storing weapons included calling and texting Lebanese residents to evacuate areas that would come under fire, according to Lebanese and Israeli government officials.
Whether delivered over the phone or by text message in Arabic, the wording was the same: “If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice.” The message was also heard on at least one Lebanese radio station, where Israel managed to seize control of the airwaves.
Israel was able to send the calls and texts by hacking into Lebanon’s telecommunications systems, a practice they have perfected over the last decade in Lebanon and in Gaza, according to two Israeli intelligence officers. Once they are within Lebanon’s systems, Israeli military intelligence units can direct the messages and phone calls to reach cellphones that are geolocated to a certain area. Israel’s military sees the practice as proof that they try to evacuate civilians from strike zones, said the officers.
Lebanese officials denied that the country’s telecommunications network had been breached. Johnny Corm, Lebanon’s telecommunications minister, said in a statement that “deceptive electronic applications” had been used to hack the system, which did not require “advanced technology to exploit the network”. The Lebanese govt was responding by transitioning to what appeared to be a more rudimentary telecommunications system, which Corm said was “less susceptible to breaches and allows for better control.”