Israel: Pegasus spyware used against Palestinian militants

The Pegasus saga moved to the Palestinian Territories on Monday with revelations that Israeli company NSO spyware was used to track down the phones of six Palestinian activists, one of whom also has French nationality. On October 22, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced that it had placed six Palestinian NGOs, including al-Haq, Addameer and Bisan, on its list of "terrorist groups" due to alleged links with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( PFLP), a Marxist organization considered "terrorist" by the Hebrew State, the United States and the European Union.

Suspecting a possible hacking of the phone of one of its employees, the human rights organization al-Haq has mandated the European group Frontline Defenders to investigate the phones of 75 members of these six NGOs to see if they had been infected with the Pegasus software. On Monday, Frontline Defenders concluded, after cross-checking with the Citizen Lab of the University of Toronto and the digital cell of Amnesty International, that six laptops had been infected by the software.

“When the Pegasus system is in the phone, it is totally monitored… The phone is no longer yours,” he added, calling on France “to take responsibility” in this affair, especially since he himself had been in contact "with people at the Quai d'Orsay, at the Élysée, with the Consul General of France in Jerusalem" and with journalists.

were hacked "before" the NGOs were designated "terrorists" by Israel.

International and Israeli NGOs have deplored this designation, which could result in drying up the funding of these NGOs, some of which work for the defense of human rights and prisoners and receive European funds.

"Totally monitored ... The phone is no longer yours"

“I felt that there was something wrong, that there was something suspicious in my phone (…) Frontline Defenders discovered that between April 10 and April 30, my phone went was attacked by Pegasus, ”Hamouri, who lives in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, told AFP. “When the Pegasus system is in the phone, it is totally monitored… The phone is no longer yours,” he added, calling on France “to take responsibility” in this affair, especially since he himself had been in contact "with people at the Quai d'Orsay, at the Élysée, with the Consul General of France in Jerusalem" and with journalists. Ubai al-Aboudi, director of Bisan, told AFP that he was "afraid for (the) life and (the) safety" of the militants.

The NSO Group found itself exposed in July after investigations published by an international media consortium revealed that its Pegasus software had been used to spy on the phones of journalists, politicians, activists or business leaders from various country, including French President Emmanuel Macron.

The United States has placed NSO on its list of companies threatening national security because of its software that can retrieve messages, photos, contacts, and remotely activate the microphones of a smartphone.

This company based in the suburbs of Tel Aviv said it was "appalled" by this decision on its software, sold to foreign governments with the approval of the Israeli Defense.

Shin Beth Counterattack

A 74-page Shin Beth report presented to American and European officials - viewed this weekend by AFP and whose "+ 972 magazine", an independent Israeli-Palestinian media outlet, had obtained first access - offers few elements to support relations between the PFLP and these NGOs. not that there is another country in the world that has stricter cyber warfare rules, ”he added. The Israeli internal security service Shin Beth accused the six NGOs of having diverted millions of dollars in aid from "several European countries" to the benefit of the PFLP, which this movement and the targeted organizations deny.

A 74-page Shin Beth report presented to US and EU officials - viewed over the weekend and whose "+ 972 magazine", an independent Israeli-Palestinian media outlet, had gained access first - offers little evidence to underpin relationships between the PFLP and these NGOs.

An Israeli security source said this report was not the only one against these NGOs, and that "different documents" had been presented "at different levels of confidentiality" to foreign officials.

She did not say whether Pegasus had been used to obtain information, however.