Anonymous targets Israeli sites, offers Gazans internet help

Anonymous hacktivists have united to stand with Gaza after Israeli forces on Wednesday launched a military operation against the Palestinian enclave.

The latest attacks in a decades-old Israeli blockade have resulted in more than 20 deaths on both sides, according to news reports, including a number of Palestinian civilians, such as the 11-month-old son of a BBC journalist.

As part of "OpIsrael," the decentralized Anonymous collective is not just using its numbers to deface and disrupt sites, but also to inform Gazans on how they can remain online if the Israeli government cuts their internet connection.

The group has released what it is calling a "Care Package for Gaza" and also linked to a Pastebin document from a fellow activist network called Telecomix, which offers instructions on how to use dial-up modems to stay connected.

"For far to [sic] long, Anonymous has stood by with the rest of the world and watched in despair the barbaric, brutal and despicable treatment of the Palestinian people in the so called 'Occupied Territories' by the Israel Defense Force," read a dispatch from the group. "Like so many around the globe, we have felt helpless in the face of such implacable evil. And today's insane attack and threatened invasion of Gaza was more of the same."

Aside from the web connection assistance, Anonymous claims it also has knocked offline or defaced a number of Israeli websites, including the International Security Academy. (That site now appears to be operating normally).

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces is using the web in an unprecedented way to keep the public apprised of its military operation, with tweets and videos posted of its offensive in near real-time.