Hamas’ military wing site hacked, logo links to a rick-roll
The military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced on the 11th of July that their main informational website had been under attack since the 7th of July. During this time the website was inaccessible. When the site next became available, it became clear that the group had evidently taken a liking to 1980s popstar Rick Astley.
The announcement about the attack seemed to blame Israel, and the group stated that they would “continue to shout the voice of truth in the face of criminal occupation [of Israel]”. Additionally, they provided an alternative domain for users to enter, which seems to have the same content as the hacked site.
Al-Qassam warned that the compromised website, which included a donation page, “contained false information, aimed at trapping visitors”.
Yet when visiting the allegedly compromised website (which is now accessible again), clicking on the Al-Qassam logo still links to a Rick Astley song on YouTube called “Together Forever”.
While this bait and switch internet prank usually uses Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”, whoever attacked the Al-Qassam website evidently wanted to leave a more unique mark in an amusing way.
This event comes as Hamas threaten a “war declaration” if Israel proceeds with the plans to annex areas of the West Bank.
