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Since the Gaza war broke out more than three months ago, residents of southern Lebanon have been receiving "strange phone calls" from Lebanese numbers and from people speaking in Lebanese accents, according to Agence France Press (AFP).
A security source told the agency that army intelligence and the police were investigating the calls, which they believe originated in Israel, meaning that Lebanon's communications network has been compromised.
The callers claim to conduct a survey, distribute aid or call from public service utilities. "They ask about families and their whereabouts, just before towns or homes come under Israeli attack," residents told AFP.
Last week Umm Hussein, who is in her 70s and originally from the southern Lebanon village of Khiam, received a call from "the bank" asking her to come and collect some money at the nearby branch, but according to her grandson Hassan Shukeir, Umm Hussein doesn't even have a bank account. "They asked her if she was in Khiam, and the call ended when she said she was in Beirut," he said.
Shortly after the call was terminated, an Israeli strike targeted the house next to hers in the village, the grandson added.
Similar incidents have taken place in recent weeks across South Lebanon, from where Hezbollah has launched daily attacks on Israel in support of Hamas since the war erupted on October 7.
Network Compromised
Hezbollah told residents of villages in the South not to divulge any information to people calling from Lebanese numbers they do not recognize. In a statement, Hezbollah suggested that Israel "exploits such information" to try to ensure the presence of its fighters in houses it intends to target.
A security source said that Israel used this tactic before to target Hezbollah members holed up in homes.
A similar incident happened when the son of Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s bloc in parliament, was killed on November 22, in an Israeli strike on a house in the village of Beit Yahun.
"Shortly before that attack, an unknown caller had asked the owner of the house whether she and her family were at home," the security source said. A spokeswoman for the Israeli military told AFP that she was "unable to answer that question," when asked if Israel was behind the phone calls. According to Hezbollah, Israel also hacked into security surveillance cameras at homes and businesses in border villages.
Scanning for Wi-Fi
The Iran-backed group said that Israel was using this access to target Hezbollah fighters, and urged Lebanese citizens to "disconnect the private cameras... from the internet." One resident said that a local Hezbollah official called him recently and demanded that he turns off and disconnect CCTV cameras installed around his house.
The security source said that three men had been arrested recently on suspicion of working with Israel-affiliated companies. One is accused of scanning for home Wi-Fi networks in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold.
Abed Kataya of digital rights group SMEX explains that civilian communications networks and CCTV cameras in Lebanon are easy to hack because the infrastructure lacks basic security measures. Private surveillance cameras, mostly Chinese imports, can be connected to the internet so owners can monitor them from afar using phone apps. But the connection is often "unencrypted, which makes it easy to hack," Kataya said.
Of note, the departures and arrivals screens at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut came under cyberattack on January 7, displaying anti-Hezbollah messages.
With AFP
A security source told the agency that army intelligence and the police were investigating the calls, which they believe originated in Israel, meaning that Lebanon's communications network has been compromised.
The callers claim to conduct a survey, distribute aid or call from public service utilities. "They ask about families and their whereabouts, just before towns or homes come under Israeli attack," residents told AFP.
Last week Umm Hussein, who is in her 70s and originally from the southern Lebanon village of Khiam, received a call from "the bank" asking her to come and collect some money at the nearby branch, but according to her grandson Hassan Shukeir, Umm Hussein doesn't even have a bank account. "They asked her if she was in Khiam, and the call ended when she said she was in Beirut," he said.
Shortly after the call was terminated, an Israeli strike targeted the house next to hers in the village, the grandson added.
Similar incidents have taken place in recent weeks across South Lebanon, from where Hezbollah has launched daily attacks on Israel in support of Hamas since the war erupted on October 7.
Network Compromised
Hezbollah told residents of villages in the South not to divulge any information to people calling from Lebanese numbers they do not recognize. In a statement, Hezbollah suggested that Israel "exploits such information" to try to ensure the presence of its fighters in houses it intends to target.
A security source said that Israel used this tactic before to target Hezbollah members holed up in homes.
A similar incident happened when the son of Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s bloc in parliament, was killed on November 22, in an Israeli strike on a house in the village of Beit Yahun.
"Shortly before that attack, an unknown caller had asked the owner of the house whether she and her family were at home," the security source said. A spokeswoman for the Israeli military told AFP that she was "unable to answer that question," when asked if Israel was behind the phone calls. According to Hezbollah, Israel also hacked into security surveillance cameras at homes and businesses in border villages.
Scanning for Wi-Fi
The Iran-backed group said that Israel was using this access to target Hezbollah fighters, and urged Lebanese citizens to "disconnect the private cameras... from the internet." One resident said that a local Hezbollah official called him recently and demanded that he turns off and disconnect CCTV cameras installed around his house.
The security source said that three men had been arrested recently on suspicion of working with Israel-affiliated companies. One is accused of scanning for home Wi-Fi networks in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold.
Abed Kataya of digital rights group SMEX explains that civilian communications networks and CCTV cameras in Lebanon are easy to hack because the infrastructure lacks basic security measures. Private surveillance cameras, mostly Chinese imports, can be connected to the internet so owners can monitor them from afar using phone apps. But the connection is often "unencrypted, which makes it easy to hack," Kataya said.
Of note, the departures and arrivals screens at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut came under cyberattack on January 7, displaying anti-Hezbollah messages.
With AFP
This Is Beirut
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