Showing posts with label Israeli war. Show all posts

Friday, October 16, 2026

Online ads weaponised to deliver ‘zero-click’ spyware, researchers say: [Israel-based] Discover-Tech’s Controlium software lets clients mass-profile internet users then covertly hack targets, say researchers at University of Toronto

Millions of users worldwide have been served ads by Discover-Tech since 2024, say researchers. Photograph: Sergio Azenha/Alamy

Hacking

Aisha Down

Thu 15 Oct 202

An Israeli advertising agency has been serving millions of online adverts that allow “zero-click” spyware to be used against targets, researchers at a Canadian university have said.

Citizen Lab, a digital investigations research unit at the University of Toronto, said it believed dozens of devices at the Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera had been compromised by spyware delivered through ads run by Discover-Tech, which describes itself as a specialised digital advertising agency.

According to Citizen Lab, Discover-Tech operates a software platform called Controlium that allows its clients to “mass-profile and deanonymise” internet users then covertly hack targets with third-party spyware. Unlike infections that rely on people interacting with links or files, the spyware requires no interaction from the victim to be installed, making it a new delivery technique, Citizen Lab says.

The infections happen without a user’s knowledge, and in a matter of seconds, according to Citizen Lab.

“[The online advertising] ecosystem is being weaponised at a massive scale to profile millions of users, then silently infect targets with zero-click mercenary spyware,” the report says.

According to the report, Controlium is able to harvest a user’s identity and IP address when the user is shown a seemingly benign custom-created ad – for example, for a digital game or a telecoms service. If the user has been selected as a target for hacking, a mercenary spyware firm can then send a malicious code containing spyware to their device, the researchers say.

They say that millions of users worldwide have been served ads by Discover-Tech since 2024, including in Yemen, Brazil, Mexico and Czechia.

Related work by the research group Confiant also suggests that Discover-Tech’s ads have been shown to users of the networks of government entities in Europe and the US, as well as the UN, Nato, the international criminal court and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“It’s disastrous that major ad vendors and organisations apparently were neither able to detect nor prevent the company’s malicious advertising operations for years,” said Wolfie Christl, a researcher at Citizen Lab. “The way the online advertising ecosystem works today is a security threat for states, the private sector, civil society and everyone else alike.”

According to Citizen Lab, Controlium acts as a “facilitator” for third-party spyware firms that have targeted “government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics and embassy workers”. Citizen Lab claims it can deliver spyware that can access everything on the device of a target, extracting messages, photos and emails, recording calls and secretly activating microphones.

The full extent of the targeting allegedly enabled by Discover-Tech is unknown. Citizen Lab’s findings join mounting evidence that the opaque arrangements underpinning the world of online advertising can be leveraged for surveillance.

“There has been a lot of buzz that... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/oct/15/israeli-firm-digital-ads-enabling-installation-of-zero-click-spyware-researchers-say

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Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Israel deliberately starting wildfires in southern Lebanon, firefighters say: First responders, residents and environmental groups say [Israeli] military dropping flares to destroy forests and crops

Forest fires sweep through the outskirts of the southern Lebanon village of Kfar Shouba on 5 August after Israeli bombing, despite the ceasefire. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters and residents of south Lebanon have accused the Israeli military of lighting wildfires in the region, as forested areas burned down in blazes sparked by Israeli bombing.

Environmental groups said the fires in recent weeks were part of a longstanding Israeli practice of targeting Lebanon’s natural environment.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military dropped flares in a wooded area outside Khiam, in south Lebanon, sparking blazes. When firefighters attempted to extinguish the flames, a drone struck close by, forcing them to withdraw, the head of the civil defence in the Nabatieh region, Hussein Fakih, said.

“Most of our missions are now related to fires. There are enormous areas of woodland that have burned, I don’t have the exact figures, but in the areas close to the [frontline], around 30-40% of the land has been affected by fires,” he said.

The Israeli military has caused fires across south Lebanon, in particular in olive groves and agricultural land, in the nearly two-months since the 17 June ceasefire that mostly ended fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, according to videos and testimony from first responders.

The military was asked for comment on each of the wildfire incidents, but did not respond.

“They started doing this right after the ceasefire, and there have been incendiary bombs every day,” said Fakih. “Small drones come out and drop incendiary materials, [white] phosphorus shells are fired at the woodlands, in addition to illumination flares that they drop during the daytime so the vegetation catches fire.”

Firefighters and residents of other areas in south Lebanon describe similar blazes being started by Israeli munitions and drones in dry scrub and woodlands. On Friday, Israeli munitions created large wildfires in two heavily forested areas: in Kfarchouba, close to the border, and between Jezzine and the western Bekaa valley.

The civil defence station chief in the area, Samir Hardan, said a fire was started near Kfarchouba on Friday afternoon after a drone dropped a munition in woodlands. After battling blazes overnight and extinguishing them on Saturday, a second drone started another fire on Sunday, Hardan said.

Firefighters, who are required to coordinate their movements with the Lebanese army, which relays their request to a “deconfliction” group that includes the Israeli military, were given permission to fight the fires at only two spots, and not other areas where fires were raging.

According to environmental groups, the fires are part of a pattern of Israeli attacks against Lebanon’s environment, which threaten the country’s woodlands and the biodiversity they support, experts said.

“These are long-established woodlands, dominated by productive stone pine alongside oak. They perform critical functions. The wider area is also an important passage and resting ground for migratory birds,” said Hisham Younes, the founder of the Lebanese conservation organisation Green Southerners.... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/12/israel-deliberately-starting-wildfires-in-southern-lebanon-firefighters-say

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Saturday, July 25, 2026

Rights groups call for help stopping Israeli 'pogrom' against Palestinians in West Bank: B’Tselem and Rabbis for Human Rights among others urge action after four Palestinians are killed by settlers near Nablus

Israeli soldiers outside the Nablus Specialized Hospital on Friday. The army said it had detained two Palestinians in the hospital due to their alleged 'participation in the shooting' in the village of Tel (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)

Alex MacDonald

Published date: 24 July 2026 17:10 BST | Last update: 18 hours 52 mins ago

Israeli rights groups have called on the international community to intervene in order to prevent a "pogrom" in the occupied West Bank.

Organisations including B’Tselem, Rabbis for Human Rights and the Palestinian-run Adalah said action was needed to prevent further deaths after Israeli settlers killed four Palestinians on Friday.

A group of armed settlers killed the four Palestinians in the village of Tel, near Nablus, while a Palestinian seized a weapon from one of the settlers and opened fire, killing two of them.

Though an Israeli army investigation found that the settlers had entered an off-limits area, the Israeli government ordered the army to demolish the home of the Palestinian accused of killing the two settlers.

The military said it was conducting an operation in Nablus to arrest dozens of Palestinians who "participated in the incident".

Rights groups said that "immediate pressure" must be placed on Israel to stop further attacks, prevent "pogroms" and uphold international law.

"In recent days, violence by settler militias, enabled and supported by the Israeli army, has escalated across the West Bank, including the torching and destruction of Palestinian property, and the forced expulsion of families and communities," they said in a statement.

"These attacks have been met with silence and inaction from much of the international community, allowing the violence to continue and intensify."

Last month, B’Tselem said Israeli forces were killing Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank at the highest rate since 1967, with 54 shot dead in 2025 alone.

The Israeli human rights group said nearly one in four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the occupied territory since October 2023 has been a minor, marking the highest proportion since the occupation began.

Despite the high child death toll, no one has been held accountable and there are no known indictments linked to the killings since October 2023.

B’Tselem said the deaths were not "isolated mistakes or violations of military orders".

Instead, it said they were the result of an Israeli policy that permits lax rules of engagement, routinely labels Palestinians as "terrorists", and shields soldiers who use lethal force.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-rights-groups-call-international-community-stop-pogrom-against-palestinians-occupied

Israel approves over $400m to fund 34 settlements in occupied West Bank

Bezalel Smotrich says the settlement expansion is intended to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/revolution-israel-approves-funds-34-new-settlements-occupied-west-bank

Amputees take part in a match inspired by the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina amid the rubble in Gaza City. Palestinians widely supported Spain in the final because the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has strongly criticised Israel’s military campaign

Deir al-Balah, Gaza

A Palestinian girl searches for reusable items at a landfill site. Israel’s defence and finance ministers this week announced plans for three illegal settlements in Gaza and more than $400m (£300m) in funding to expand construction in the occupied West Bank, as Israel’s military commander for the region celebrated the violent outposts as his ‘security partners’. Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2026/jul/24/the-week-around-the-world-in-20-pictures?CMP=share_btn_url#img-8

Gaza

Amputees take part in a match inspired by the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina amid the rubble in Gaza City. Palestinians widely supported Spain in the final because the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has strongly criticised Israel’s military campaign. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2026/jul/24/the-week-around-the-world-in-20-pictures?CMP=share_btn_url#img-6

Gaza celebrates World Cup victory of Spanish team they took into their hearts

People gather at cafes and outdoor screenings to support team after Spain’s backing for Palestinian rights

The Spanish football team’s World Cup win has been celebrated in the streets of Gaza, where Spain’s support for Palestinian rights and Israel’s backing for the Argentinian team turned the competition into more than a football showdown.

Gathered at cafes and outdoor screenings, Palestinians defied the risk of Israeli attacks to cheer on a team they had taken to their hearts... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/21/gaza-celebrates-world-cup-victory-of-spanish-team-they-took-into-their-hearts

Thursday, June 18, 2026

NPR: June 16, 2026 Israeli ambassador to U.S. says Israel is 'not going to withdraw from South Lebanon' .... June 15, 2026 U.S. and Iran announce an initial deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz

June 16, 2026

Heard on Morning Edition

Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel (Michael) Leiter, told Morning Edition that Israel does not plan to withdraw from southern Lebanon, reinforcing a position Israeli officials have already staked out and exposing a potential fault line in a U.S.-brokered agreement with Iran.

"We're not going to withdraw from South Lebanon, and the madmen of Tehran have no business poking their nose into this," Leiter said in an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

Leiter's comments echoed remarks from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said this week that Israel would not retreat from Lebanon, Syria or Gaza "despite all the existing pressures and those that may yet come."

The position clashes with statements from Iranian officials, who have said Lebanon is part of a broader understanding reached with Washington. Iran's deputy foreign minister said the cessation of fighting would apply "on all fronts," including Lebanon.... READ MORE https://www.npr.org/2026/06/16/nx-s1-5858937/israels-ambassador-to-the-u-s-talks-about-u-s-iran-deal-to-end-war

Listen to the full interview by clicking on the blue play button above.

The digital version of this interview was written by Majd Al-Waheidi and edited by Treye Green.

U.S. and Iran announce an initial deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz

Thursday, June 11, 2026

"Israel’s much greater firepower today, provided by modern munitions supplied by the United States, has allowed Israel to realise what before it could only dream of doing: wiping Gaza off the map." Gaza is not an aberration - Israel planned this genocide decades ago. In October 2023, Israel found an excuse to breathe new life into an old story of slaughter and expulsion. The chief differences this time have been of scale and duration

A Palestinian girl wounded in an Israeli strike on a tent encampment for displaced families, according to medics, is carried at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on 25 May, 2026 (Reuters)

Jonathan Cook

11 June 2026

The truth slowly comes to light: Israel's genocide in Gaza was planned decades ago.

Listen to the testimonies of four Israeli soldiers who served in Gaza.

Soldier 1: “Human lives didn’t matter. You could kill, there was no law. No one would say a word to you. But it’s not a good feeling. It mainly kills your humanity.”

Soldier 2: “At first I wasn’t willing to execute Arabs who weren’t resisting [that is, civilians]. Then we came to the conclusion that we had to kill. We went through the process of ceasing to see them as human beings.”

Soldier 3: “We caught guys, lined them up and eliminated them. In retrospect, it looks like murder.”

Soldier 4: “We would roam through refugee camps in Gaza and carry out purges... Every soldier who was there created a ‘concentration camp’, and they didn’t hesitate to kill people who caused a slight disturbance.”

No, these testimonies are not new. The whistleblowers did not serve in Gaza during the current, ongoing genocide there. These accounts are nearly 60 years old, published last week by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz under the headline "We were ordered to kill”.

Israeli soldiers interviewed shortly after the 1967 war - often referred to as the Six-Day War - not only confessed that they and others routinely committed war crimes but they pointed out that they did so under orders from their commanders.

The accounts were compiled into a book, The Seventh Day: Soldiers Talk About the Six-Day War, by Avraham Shapira, though many testimonies were not included because they were too shocking.

None of this should be simply of historical interest. These accounts are a vivid reminder that what Israel has been doing during its current, near three-year destruction of Gaza - levelling all homes, hospitals, schools, universities, bakeries and government offices; murdering tens of thousands, more likely hundreds of thousands, of Palestinian civilians; and blocking aid and starving the population - is part of a decades-old pattern of Israeli military conduct.

Nothing “started” on 7 October 2023, when Hamas broke out for a single day of the Gaza “concentration camp” - the plight of Gaza’s Palestinians noted 59 years ago by Soldier 4.

Rather, Israel found an excuse that day to breathe new life into an old story, one in which it has been slaughtering and expelling Palestinians for decades. The chief difference this time is simply one of scale and duration.

Washington and other western capitals have given Israel the time and space to finish in Gaza what, earlier, it had only been able to achieve in part. Israel’s much greater firepower today, provided by modern munitions supplied by the United States, has allowed Israel to realise what before it could only dream of doing: wiping Gaza off the map.

Policy of starvation

The whistleblowing soldiers of 1967 admitted their job was not to “fight the enemy” - or “eradicate the terrorists”, as Israeli leaders now term it. It was to kill and terrorise Palestinian civilians under cover of war.

Few soldiers were shy of saying why they were committing atrocities. Their task was to create a reign of terror, integral to Israel’s efforts to expel as many Palestinians as possible from the last remaining parts of the Palestinian homeland, the territories captured by the Israeli military in 1967 and then illegally occupied.

This was seen as a new opportunity to complete the ethnic cleansing campaign begun by Zionist militias in earnest in 1947 and 1948 as the British Mandate authorities withdrew from Palestine. By the end of that campaign, some 80 percent of Palestinians had been expelled from their homes inside the borders of the newly declared Jewish state.

Many ended up in refugee camps in neighbouring states such as Lebanon and Syria. But some fled into the surviving pockets of historic Palestine in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza - the 22 per cent of their homeland that had been shielded from further Israeli advances in 1948 by Jordan and Egypt.

The 1967 war was... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-not-an-aberration-israels-genocide-gaza-was-planned-decades-ago

Monday, May 25, 2026

Ongoing Nakba in Gaza, Palestine: People inspect the remains of a residential building hit by an Israeli airstrike... Listen to the stories of Gaza’s women to fully grasp the horrors Israel is inflicting

Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip

People inspect the remains of a residential building hit by an Israeli airstrike

Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2026/may/24/protests-parades-and-an-erupting-geyser-photos-of-the-weekend?CMP=share_btn_url#img-8

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

Listen to the stories of Gaza’s women to fully grasp the horrors Israel is inflicting on us

Olfat al-Kurd

I survived months of bombardment before escaping. The systematic dismantling of our home has harmed every aspect of women’s lives

Since Israel’s assault on Gaza began in October 2023, I have lost my father, my brother, his wife and their daughter. They are still buried under the rubble. My house, where we lived with my husband’s family, was destroyed by Israeli bombing. In 2024, after months of bombardments, flight and displacement, I managed to escape with my family to Egypt. I’ve been living here ever since, but the memories of life in Gaza are always with me. What happened to me reflects the reality that Palestinian women in Gaza continue to face during the genocide.

Since the start of the war, many women in Gaza have become sole providers. Countless numbers have been left with no protection or home, and many have lost children or their entire families. A recent UN report showed that Israel has killed more than 38,000 women and girls in Gaza during this war. A further 11,000 have sustained injuries causing lifelong disabilities.

I used to live in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood of Gaza City with my family of six. Life under Israeli occupation was defined by violence, fear, and constant uncertainty. Yet within this reality, we built a life of dignity and continuity, with moments of joy. Remaining steadfast in the face of relentless violence became our form of resistance.

For me, that resistance was working as a field researcher for B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, documenting human-rights violations in Gaza long before the genocide... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/25/stories-gaza-women-horrors-israel

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