Hamas copies Israel’s random phone call tactic

Hamas message

IntelNews has been reporting in recent days that Israeli intelligence are placing random calls to cell phones of Gaza residents prompting them to evacuate Hamas-affiliated targets. We also reported that this technique, which Israel also employed in Lebanon and Syria during the last couple of years, seems to have resulted in a backlash for the Israeli Defense Forces, as Gaza residents receiving these random calls often rush to the roofs of potential target buildings in efforts to prevent the attacks. It now appears that Hamas, the Palestinian group in charge of the Gaza strip, is employing a similar tactic to warn Israeli cell phone subscribers that Qassam rockets will fall “on all cities” and that “shelters [will] not protect” them. Israeli news service YnetNews reports that “dozens of Israelis” have reported receiving text messages on their cell phones, which are signed “Hamas”. The website even cites an unnamed “source in Hamas military wing” as confirming the group’s new tactic. It also quotes Abu Abir, representative of the Hezbollah-affiliated Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza, as stating that “[t]elephone messages and breaching the enemy’s radio frequencies are just some of the surprises we have for the Israeli side. You will be very surprised by our military and technological capabilities”. [IA]