Israeli Start-Up Hacks ISIS Chats and Finds Newest Target Kill Lists By Michael Zeff - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

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Israeli Start-Up Hacks ISIS Chats and Finds Newest Target Kill Lists

By Michael Zeff August 4, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vapour driven to and fro; they [that seek them] seek death.” Proverbs 21:6 (The Israel Bible™)

An emerging Israeli startup firm in the cyber-security sector managed to infiltrate an encrypted Islamic State group and to retrieve the terror organization’s latest list of international attack targets.

IntSights is a cyber-intelligence startup company, founded by three Israeli entrepreneurs in their 20s. The founders are veterans of top IDF intelligence and cyber-warfare units and their clients already include large international establishments such as banks, industry giants, and telecommunications companies.

“IntSights is a small company which provides intelligence and incident mitigation in real time by gathering and analyzing data from the darknet, an encrypted and secretive section of the Internet often used by criminal elements,” Alon Arvatz, VP Intelligence and Co-Founder, told Tazpit Press Service (TPS) in an interview. “Using the technology we developed, we intercepted the most recent target-list sent by the Islamic State to its operatives around the world.”

IntSights analysts used their expertise to infiltrate a Telegram Messenger chat used by the Islamic State terror group to communicate internationally. The Telegram application has been used by the top 500 Islamic State operatives to share plans and locations for potential terrorist attacks mandated by the IS leadership.

Gal Ben David, CTO, Guy Nizan, CEO and Alon Arvatz VP Intelligence. (Photo: Ofir Abe/IntSights)

“The Telegram app is completely encrypted, which means no fear of someone monitoring your correspondence and understanding what it means,” Arvatz explained. “That’s why IS moved from traditional social media to Telegram over the last year.”

According to IntSights, the application is used by the Islamic State cyber-warfare wing, the so-called United Cyber Caliphate, to publish targets in the form of a call to action with the knowledge that someone around the world would answer the call and carry out an attack.

“The church in France that was recently the location of a deadly attack appeared on a target list published several months ago and someone recently decided to answer the call and attacked that very church,” said Arvatz. “This proves beyond any doubt that there is a direct link between cyber activity and actual terror attacks.”

The newest target list was published on the Telegram group on Monday and was intercepted by IntSights.

“The long list includes exact coordinates for each and every target, all of which are airports and air bases that are used or could be used by the United States Air Force all over the world,” Arvatz told TPS.

The list was followed by a file with a world map on which all the airports and bases were marked with pinpoint precision, as well as aerial footage of the higher priority targets. Entries in the list that were marked as “preferred targets,” include the Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait and two Bahraini airports. The full list includes targets in Latin America, Europe, and even Israel.

Captured Hamas Terrorist Spills Vital Details on Terror Tunnels by Michael Zeff - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Captured Hamas Terrorist Spills Vital Details on Terror Tunnels

By Michael Zeff June 6, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“He uncovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.” Job 12:22 (The Israel Bible™)

IDF soldiers by the Gaza border fence. (Hillel Maeir/TPS)

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) cleared for publication on Sunday that it apprehended a member of the Hamas military wing Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

According to a statement made by the Shin Bet, the 17-year-old resident of Gaza was part of the Beit Lahiya battalion of al-Qassam Brigades. He was captured shortly after infiltrating Israel through the Gaza border fence during a large scale interagency operation conducted by the Shin Bet, the IDF, and the Israel Police in May.

According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the arrest and subsequent interrogation of the minor yielded invaluable information about Hamas’s tunnel-warfare capability as well as information about the the terrorist organization’s recruitment process and training in addition to intelligence about other operatives of Hamas’s military wing.

“The perpetrator conveyed valuable information regarding Hamas activities in the northern Gaza Strip and especially Hamas’s offensive tunnels,” stated an IDF spokesperson. “Additional information was revealed regarding Hamas’s methods of building tunnels, communication within the tunnels, and multiple digging locations intended to be used by Hamas to infiltrate Israel during conflict.”

According to the Shin Bet, the suspect revealed revealed the locations of numerous tunnel entrances inside the Gaza Strip, many of which are located in civilian complexes such as densely populated residential buildings, mosques, and schools.

“The tunnel entrances are located in such a way that deliberately puts the civilian population in Gaza at risk,” stated the Shin Bet communications department.

2,000-Year-Old Bronze Artifacts Tied to Temple Unearthed Near Sea of Galilee By Michael Zeff - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

The incense shovel after having been cleaned in the Israel Antiquities Authority metallurgical laboratories. Photo: Clara Amit (Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority/TPS)

2,000-Year-Old Bronze Artifacts Tied to Temple Unearthed Near Sea of Galilee

By Michael Zeff April 6, 2016  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“And Aaron shall burn thereon incense of sweet spices; every morning, when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn it.” Exodus 30:7 (The Israel Bible™)

An ancient bronze shovel and jug tied to the religious rituals of the Second Temple were discovered in archaeological excavations at Magdala – an important Jewish town dating back to the period of Roman antiquity, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced on Tuesday, April 5.

During an ongoing excavation project, a group of volunteers from Chile discovered an ornate bronze incense shovel and a matching bronze jug believed to have stored incense or coals for ritual use.

“The incense shovel that was found is one of ten others that are known in the country from the Second Temple period. From early research it is thought that the incense shovel was only used for ritual purposes, for the embers and incense that were burnt in ritual ceremonies,” Dina Avshalom-Gorni, the Chief archaeologist on behalf of the IAA, told Tazpit Press Service (TPS).

The incense shovel as it was found in the excavation. ( Eyad Bisharat, Israel Antiquities Authority/MFA)

According to Avshalom-Gorni, incense shovels are known worldwide as ritualistic and religious implements in ancient religions, and their use has permeated into Judaism. The book of Exodus states: “You shall make the altar…you shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and firepans; all its utensils you shall make of bronze,” a quote which ties these artifacts to the rituals of the Jewish Temple, at least symbolically.

“We know that these are certainly sacred tools, perhaps pertaining to the local synagogue discovered on this site, a synagogue which was quite grand and rich and important in the region,”  Avshalom-Gorni explained to TPS. “It’s a rare and exciting find.”

The site is located near the town of Migdal along the western shore of Sea of Galilee. Migdal, or Magdala as it was known by its Latin name, was a large Jewish fishing and trade town in the Early Roman period. It is mentioned in Jewish sources, and at the time of the destruction of the Second Temple it served as a main military base for the ancient Jewish historian and general Josephus.

Another famous denizen of the city, according to the Christian tradition, was the penitent prostitute Mary Magdalene—named for her birthplace Migdal.

The jug as it was discovered in the excavation. (Photo: Eyad Bisharat/Israel Antiquities Authority/TPS)

In recent years the IAA has been leading extensive excavations at the site, overseen by the archaeologists Dina Avshalom-Gorni and Arfan Najar, in partnership with the Anahuac University of Mexico’s Dr. Marcela Zapata-Meza and with the help of volunteers from Mexico, Chile, Spain and Italy.

“It is a very impressive site and is open to the general public. The land actually belongs to a private developer from the Catholic Church, who planned to build a hotel for pilgrims on that plot,” Avshalom-Gorni explained.

According to Israeli law, before approving construction on any building project in the country IAA experts must first survey the plot to assure it will not damage an archeological site.

The stone with the menorah symbol which was discovered in the synagogue at Magdala. (Photo: Yael Yulowich, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority/MFA)

“We began exploratory digs in 2009 and little by little it became evident to us and to the Catholic Church that we have discovered a major site which was dated to the exact time of the ministry of Jesus in the Galilee, and the home of Mary Magdalene,” she added.

The landowner then decided to turn the location into an open-air museum alongside the ongoing excavations, which continue to produce thrilling archaeological finds.