Israeli military officials have issued warnings to residents in southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut, urging them to evacuate villages and neighborhoods as a bombing campaign intensifies in the region. The bombings, which began shortly after the warnings were issued, have resulted in over 180 deaths in Lebanon’s south. Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari has announced plans for a “large-scale” aerial operation in eastern Lebanon, raising concerns of a full-blown war.
The warnings, delivered through messages, phone calls, and radio broadcasts, raise questions about how Israel gained access to private communication details of individuals across Lebanon. Experts believe that Israel’s superior technological capabilities, similar to those used in Gaza, allow them to target their missiles with precision.
There are concerns that Israel may have infiltrated Lebanese telecommunications networks, allowing them to send targeted warnings to individuals in specific locations. Previous incidents, such as explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies attributed to Hezbollah, have been blamed on Israel. The ability to send warnings to specific individuals suggests Israel has real-time access to information about Lebanese civilians.
Lebanon’s weak data privacy framework, combined with previous incidents of data breaches by state actors, has left its citizens vulnerable to surveillance and hacking. Laws protecting electronic data are considered weak, leaving individuals at risk of privacy violations. As tensions escalate in the region, concerns about data privacy and surveillance continue to grow.
Source
Photo credit www.aljazeera.com
