Two Israeli websites have been hit by pro-Hamas hackers.

 

Visitors to the Ynet English and Bank Discount page were directed to a page on Friday that included messages against Israel and the US, along with a propaganda song in Arabic.

 

The hackers took over an Israeli domain registration server called DomainTheNet for a couple of hours, and managed to divert surfers to an alternative server in Japan where the hostile webpage was planted, according to the Jerusalem Post.

 

The hackers, who call themselves Team Evil and are based in Morocco, planted messages on the hostile webpage comparing the Israeli actions in Gaza and the American operation in Iraq to the Holocaust.

 

It also included pictures of dead Palestinians in Gaza, Iraqi prisoners being abused by an American prison guard, and a picture of a Natorei Karta member holding a sign that calls for the end of Zionism.

 

According to Ynet, its English website was not hacked but rather the server that hosts their site, as well as those of many other Israeli sites. A senior source at Yediot Aharonot Group, who operates the umbrella that Ynet operates under, said the company would consider taking legal action against DomainTheNet.

 

Ynet's editor-in-chief, Yon Feder, said: “We are examining our next steps with the company and checking options to prevent recurrence of such an incident.”

 

Yoav Keren, CEO of DomainTheNet Technologies, told Ynet in response that the hackers were able to track passwords used by the online customer service system and to access the domain management system, posing as system administrators authorised to change internet protocol addresses.

 

Keren added that DomainTheNet staff spotted the security breach, blocked it and thwarted further attempts by Team Evil to make any further changes.

 

According to Ynet, this same Moroccan group had previously hacked other Israeli sites, including those of Cellcom, Shilav and Blue Square.