In a latest disturbing growth from the Israel-Hamas warfare, it has been reported that Hamas has been using a brand new warfare tactic by taking management of the social media accounts of kidnapped Israelis and utilizing them to broadcast violent messages and wage psychological warfare.
This tactic entails livestreaming assaults and posting propaganda on the hijacked accounts. At the least 4 situations have been reported the place Hamas members took over private social media accounts of hostages to livestream assaults that occurred on October 7.
Moreover, it seems that they infiltrated hostages’ Fb teams, Instagram accounts, and WhatsApp chats to subject threats and requires violence.
This technique of hijacking particular person hostages’ social media accounts is a step forward from what extremist teams have up to now completed to public their propaganda and twisted .
It has deeply affected the households and associates of the account homeowners, who usually flip to social media for details about their family members.
Meta, the corporate that owns Fb, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has established a particular operations heart to watch and reply to this example.
In an instance of this tactic, Gali Shlezinger Idan, residing on a kibbutz close to the Gaza border, and her household discovered themselves held captive by Hamas members who took management of her Fb account.
A livestream started, forcing Idan and her household to crouch on a tile flooring for 43 minutes whereas their constructing was underneath assault from rockets and gunfire.
Family and friends had been horrified as they watched the printed, witnessing the misery of Idan’s youngsters embracing their dad and mom.
This horrifying episode is an element of a bigger sample. Interviews with 13 Israeli households and their associates, in addition to social media consultants who specialise in extremist teams, have revealed the extent of Hamas’s new technique.
In accordance with Israel’s navy, not less than 199 folks have been taken hostage by Hamas.
Consultants are calling this new strategy a “weaponization” of social media, as Hamas seizes management of non-public accounts and makes use of them to unfold violence and propaganda.
Thomas Rid, a professor of strategic research at Johns Hopkins College, was quoted in a report saying that this tactic takes the psychological impression to a brand new stage, one which society just isn’t but psychologically ready for.
The psychological trauma inflicted on these near the account homeowners can’t be overstated.
Two members of the safety staff overseeing Fb confirmed that Hamas had gained entry to the Fb accounts of hostages to start livestreams and publish content material.
These accounts have since been made personal, and the livestreams have been eliminated. Meta, the mother or father firm of Fb, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has declined to touch upon the scenario however has taken measures to handle it.
One of the crucial heart-wrenching instances concerned Dikla Arava, one other resident from Nahal Oz, whose Fb account was additionally taken over by Hamas.
Throughout a 20-minute livestream, her teenage son was compelled to go exterior and persuade neighbors that it was secure, an act that was tantamount to utilizing the younger boy as a lure.
Arava, his associate, and their three youngsters had been all taken hostage by Hamas. A subsequent video on a Hamas-affiliated channel confirmed considered one of Arava’s teenage daughters in Gaza.
As social media continues to function a important platform for communication, the plight of the hostages and their households stays within the highlight.
Hamas representatives didn’t reply to requests for remark, and it stays a deeply distressing scenario for these concerned.