The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it stopped an attempted cyber attack launched by Hamas over the weekend with a retaliatory air strike on a building in Gaza from where the military said the digital attack was carried out. This is believed to be the first time in history that the military responded to a cyber attack with physical violence in real time.
This weekend saw another flare-up of violence, with Hamas firing more than 600 rockets into Israel in three days and the IDF launching its own strikes on hundreds of what it described as military targets. So far, at least 27 Palestinians and four Israeli civilians have been killed and more than a hundred wounded. Tensions between Israel and Hamas have increased over the past year, with protests and violence periodically erupting.
During Saturday's battle, the IDF said Hamas had launched a cyberattack against Israel. The exact purpose of the attack was not reported, but The Times of Israel claims that the attackers sought to harm the quality of life of Israeli citizens. It also reported that the attack was not complex and was quickly stopped.
An Israeli army spokesman said: "Hamas no longer has cyber capabilities after our air strike." The IDF released a video showing the attack on the building from which the cyberattack was allegedly carried out:
This particular incident marked the first time the military responded to a cyberattack with force while the battle was ongoing. The United States attacked an ISIS member in 2015 after he posted recordings of American troops online, but the attack did not take place in real time. Israel's response to Hamas marks the first time the country has responded immediately with military force to a cyberattack during the active phase of a conflict.
The attack raises serious questions about the incident and its significance in the future. The general principle of warfare and international humanitarian law dictate that retaliatory attacks must be proportionate. No one in their right mind would agree that a nuclear strike on the capital is an adequate response to the death of one soldier in a border skirmish. Considering that the IDF admitted that it had thwarted the cyberattack before the airstrike, was the latter appropriate? Either way, this is a worrying sign of the evolution of modern warfare.