2023-10-24 04:00:18
Photographs of Israelis possibly kidnapped by Hamas are displayed near the Israeli Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times 15.10.23 Shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, friends and relatives of Gali Shlezinger Idan , who lived on a kibbutz near the border of the Gaza Strip, began receiving persistent messages asking them to check their Facebook page. What they saw there was a shock: members of the organization were using the account to show off live, holding the woman and her family hostage — forced, for 43 minutes, to remain kneeling on the floor while missiles and gunfire shook the house. See also International UN Assembly will meet on Thursday to address war between Israel and Hamas terrorists International Hamas announces release of two Israeli hostages International USA rules out ceasefire in Gaza; pause could help Hamas terrorists “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. How could we be looking at those people terrorizing their family like that, live, on Facebook?”, asked Keren de Via, a friend of the Idans, who had to watch the children hugging their parents, crying. In a new guerrilla tactic, Hamas began to take over the accounts of kidnapped Israelis on social media and use them to transmit violent messages, investing in psychological violence, according to reports from 13 families, their friends and experts in extremist groups. . In at least four cases, the men entered the hostages’ profiles to broadcast live the terror they caused on October 7. Since then, it appears that they have also interacted in these people’s Facebook groups, Instagram accounts and WhatsApp to make death threats and call for brutality — and, as if that weren’t enough, they have used the victims’ cell phones to provoke family and friends. . According to the Israeli Army, at least 220 people are in the entity’s hands. “These extremist groups have been using social media to propagate their cause for a long time, investing in proselytism and showing their attacks live. But, by hacking into abductees’ personal accounts on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, they transform social media into weapon, something we haven’t seen yet. We’re not psychologically prepared for something like that,” said Thomas Rid, professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University. The tactic is even scarier for those closest to the account owners, worsening an already terrifying situation. Arte R7 Vital channel Social networks have become the vital channel where friends and family go to look for clues about the missing, and receiving a message or seeing that a video has been posted immediately gives rise to hope – which dies immediately when it is realized that it is from third parties, as confirmed by two families of those kidnapped. “First comes the expectation, then the confusion and, finally, just the dread”, revealed de Via. Meta, owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, refused to comment on the new trend, but guarantees that it has created “a special operations center with qualified personnel, including fluent speakers of Hebrew and Arabic, to closely monitor and react to rapidly unfolding situations.” Two members of the security team that oversees Facebook — who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to make statements — confirmed that members of Hamas accessed the platform accounts of Israelis held hostage for live broadcasts and posts, and they believe it is the group’s new strategy following the execution of the attacks. The pages have since been made private and the videos have been removed. The organization’s representatives did not respond to our requests for clarification. Idan’s Facebook page was hacked about two hours after the Hamas attack on her kibbutz, Nahal Oz, where she lived with her husband and their four children. Out of nowhere, she started a live stream, according to a relative. De Via, who was once a neighbor of Idan and has children the same age as her friend, explained that she was trying to contact her when the images appeared. “I opened it right away because I know she’s not like that, and the first thing I saw was the terror on the children’s faces; then I heard voices speaking Arabic and I knew something horrible was happening.” The broadcast record shows Idan, 50, and her husband, Tzachi, 51, crouched on the floor with their two youngest children, a girl and a boy; He, aged seven, cried and asked where his other sister was. “That’s when I realized that the two weren’t there. Then I saw the blood on Tzachi’s hands and thought the worst.” Terrorist bait Later, a medical team found the body of the eldest, Mayan, who had just turned 18, shot to death; the other was not in the house, as relatives confirmed. Idan and the two little ones were left in the house, but the husband was taken. She did not respond to our request for an interview. The same was done to Dikla Arava, 50, also a resident of Nahal Oz. The terrorists used his account to do a 20-minute live broadcast, during which his teenage son was forced to go outside and tell neighbors that everything was fine and that they should come out too. Two of Arava’s relatives who saw the video and shared it with “The New York Times” said they were horrified by the men’s attitude, using the boy to attract other residents. She, her partner and three children were taken by Hamas. Last week, a video on the organization’s affiliated Telegram channel showed one of Arava’s daughters in Gaza. Bunker, kibbutz and Hezbollah: understand the terms used in the war between Israel and Hamas (this applies to all subjects)
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