A day after the Hamas terror group’s attack on Israel, hackers managed to shut down the website of The Jerusalem Post, the country’s leading English-language newspaper.
As a result of the cyberattack, the newspaper’s website has now been inaccessible for more than 24 hours. A visit to the site displays a “429 Too Many Requests” error on an empty page.
“The Jerusalem Post has been targeted by multiple cyberattacks this morning causing our site to crash,” the newspaper announced on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday morning.
“We’ll be back soon and will continue to be the top source of information on Operation Swords of Iron and the murderous attacks by Hamas,” the post continued, referring to Israel’s retaliation offensive following the Hamas terror strike.
In an email to The Daily Beast, Jerusalem Post editor Avi Mayer referred to “a succession of devastating cyberattacks.”
“We’ve been trying to deal with them, but they’ve taken us down several times.”
Mr. Mayer said there were “indications” of who was responsible and even of the location of the hackers, but did not provide further details “so as not to give them undue publicity or increase their motivation to attack us or anyone else.”
The paper has since posted a short update on X: “We are actively working to resolve the issue and will be back online soon.”
Several hours later, however, the Jerusalem Post website remained inaccessible.
The cyberattacks came on the heels of the Hamas terror group’s massive surprise offensive against Israel on Saturday.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) international spokesperson, approximately 1,000 Hamas fighters moved into southern Israeli territory on Saturday. The terrorists then went door to door, killing and abducting civilians, he said.
In response to the attack, Israel has launched “Operation Swords of Iron,” striking a number of suspected Hamas hideouts in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel’s response will “exact a huge price” on the terrorist group.
The current Israeli death toll in the Hamas terror attack has exceeded 800, and at least 2,600 people have been reported wounded, with many of them severely injured.
“It is by far the worst day in Israeli history. Never before have so many Israelis been killed by one single thing, let alone enemy activity on one day,” Mr. Conricus said.
In addition to the killing, an unknown number of Israeli civilians and soldiers have been kidnapped by the terrorist organization, with The Post estimating that at least 150 have been abducted and are being held in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced that at least 560 people have been killed and 2,900 wounded in Gaza following military actions against Hamas bases by Israeli forces.