Anonymous fights to keep Gaza connected as Israel attacks

Hacker collective Anonymous has sworn to keep Gaza connected as Israel undertakes a series of attacks against Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

Over the past 24 hours, the Israel has undertaken a series of air-based attacks against the organisation in the Gaza strip.

The attacks have seen Hamas fire back with rocket attacks, signalling the potential for all out war in the volatile region.

When Israel announced that it would be cutting of internet services to Israel, Twitter accounts associated with the collective began sounding the alarm:

#Gaza: How to connect to the internet in case of disconnection katatus.blogspot.com #GazaUnderAttack

— Anonymous (@AnonyOps) November 15, 2012

Hackers within the group also began defacing a number of Israeli websites.

Facebook pages close to the cause meanwhile posted the following message:

@PLF2012 – In coming hours Israel will disconnect Internet & all telecommunications of #Gaza. Anyone who can or wants to assist in coming up with technological solutions to a possible Gaza Internet cut off plz join #VoxAnon (http://www.VoxAnon.org/) #OpIsrael

We need Arabic speakers for translation and any one on the ground in Gaza for dissemination. We need experts in ham radio also, both in and out of Gaza. Need radio operators IN Gaza.

The collective itself posted a more in-depth message on Pastebin, saying that Israel’s decision to cut off internet access to Gaza “crossed a line in the sand”:

Anonymous Operation Israel – Press Release

Thursday – November 15, 2012 2:00 AM ET USA

Greetings World —

For far to long, Anonymous has stood by with the rest of the world and watched in despair the barbaric, brutal and despicable treatment of the Palestinian people in the so called “Occupied Territories” by the Israel Defense Force. Like so many around the globe, we have felt helpless in the face of such implacable evil. And today’s insane attack and threatened invasion of Gaza was more of the same.

But when the government of Israel publicly threatened to sever all Internet and other telecommunications into and out of Gaza they crossed a line in the sand. As the former dictator of Egypt Mubarack learned the hard way – we are ANONYMOUS and NO ONE shuts down the Internet on our watch. To the IDF and government of Israel we issue you this warning only once. Do NOT shut down the Internet into the “Occupied Territories”, and cease and desist from your terror upon the innocent people of Palestine or you will know the full and unbridled wrath of Anonymous. And like all the other evil governments that have faced our rage, you will NOT survive it unscathed.

To the people of Gaza and the “Occupied Territories”, know that Anonymous stands with you in this fight. We will do everything in our power to hinder the evil forces of the IDF arrayed against you. We will use all our resources to make certain you stay connected to the Internet and remain able to transmit your experiences to the world. As a start, we have put together the Anonymous Gaza Care Package – http://bit.ly/XH87C5 – which contains instructions in Arabic and English that can aid you in the event the Israel government makes good on it’s threat to attempt to sever your Internet connection. It also contains useful information on evading IDF surveillance, and some basic first aid and other useful information. We will continue to expand and improve this document in the coming days, and we will transmit it to you by every means at our disposal. We encourage you to download this package, and to share it with your fellow Palestinians to the best of your ability.

We will be with you. No matter how dark it may seem, no matter how alone and abandoned you may feel – know that tens of thousands of us in Anonymous are with you and working tirelessly around the clock to bring you every aid and assistance that we can.

We Are Anonymous

We Are Everywhere

We Are Legion

We Do Not Forgive

We Do Not Forget

To the oppressors of the innocent Palestinian people, it is to late to EXPECT US