​Anonymous 'knocks out' Mossad website over Israel’s Gaza offensive

Hacker group Anonymous has reportedly taken down the website of the Israeli secret service Mossad in protest of Israel’s military incursion in Gaza. The ‘hacktivists’ have already targeted a number of organizations in their mission to stop the “genocide.”

Mossad’s website went offline at around 00:40 GMT and is still down at the time of writing. The Israeli government has yet to make any comment on the supposed hack attack.

#Anonymous takes down: >http://t.co/Hn3U0Sygkm< #OpSaveGaza#OpIsrael#AnonGhost#Palestine#PalestineResists#Gaza#GazaUnderAttack

— Operation Egypt (@OperationEgypt) July 30, 2014

Mossad tango down! http://t.co/wXvIxHWGZapic.twitter.com/6Ze3iEG4v6

— Thadeus Zu (@deuszu) July 30, 2014

In a previous attack on Monday, Anonymous knocked out multiple Israeli government sites after one of the organization’s members died in the West Bank over the weekend. 22-year-old Tayeb Abu Shehada was killed during a protest in the village of Huwwara in the West Bank after Israeli settlers and soldiers opened fire on demonstrators, reported Bethlehem-based Ma'an News Agency.

Anonymous launched a hacking campaign against Israel coinciding with the beginning of Operation Protective Edge on July 7. Anonymous claims that since its operation began, it has taken down “thousands” of Israeli-based websites. The hacktivist group also released 170 log-in details last Monday which they said belonged to Israeli officials.

Anonymous has also issued an appeal to all of its followers to intensify their attacks on Israeli websites.

“We are calling upon the Anonymous collective, and the elite hacker groups to join our crusade, and to wage cyber war against the state of Israel once more,” said a public statement from the group posted online last Friday. "As a collective 'Anonymous' does not hate Israel, it hates that Israel's government is committing genocide & slaughtering unarmed people in Gaza to obtain more land at the border."

The group launched hundreds of attacks on Israeli sites two years ago during the Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) previous operation ‘Pillar of Defense’ in Gaza. Anonymous succeeded in leaking the data of 5,000 Israeli officials and hacking into the Israeli deputy premier’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

The conflict in Gaza shows no signs of relenting with both the IDF and Hamas continuing to exchange rocket fire. The Palestinian Health Ministry reports than over 1.350 people have been killed in Gaza, while the Israeli side has lost 56 soldiers to the fighting.