A target list of a few dozen IDF Egoz commando unit veterans and reservists was published by the Iranian regime-backed hacktivist group Handala on Sunday, which claimed that they had exposed the identities of 60 senior officers.
Handala said on its website that the commandos would now become targets for the “resistance’s shadows.”
“The Egoz Unit, whose name means ‘walnut’ in Hebrew, has long tried to hide behind this tough-sounding name, pretending to be invincible. But today, these ‘empty walnuts’ have been cracked open for all to see,” wrote Handala. “Maybe it’s time they give up guerrilla warfare and take up walnut picking instead. They might be more successful at that.”
While the hacktivist group claimed they had exposed 60 senior Egoz officers, the 48 men they presented appeared to be veterans and reservists. Many openly advertised their past affiliation with Egoz on social media, and according to their LinkedIn profiles, they did not serve beyond their mandatory service. The most senior seen by The Jerusalem Post was an NCO. None appeared to be officers, and they had already established careers outside the military.
“No way to escape,” Handala threatened on X/Twitter. “We come for you one by one.”
Handala said on X that the expose had been coordinated with Hezbollah, who it claimed had been provided with the “exact coordinates of all Egoz unit bases” to be used by the Lebanese terrorist organization’s drone units.
Previous attempts to 'expose' secret agents
On April 25, Handala had published a similar “expose” of 100 “senior officers” and “secret agents” ostensibly belonging to the Maglan unit. The group also targeted US military personnel last Monday, claiming to publish a list of US Navy officers, and on April 28, the names of over 2,000 Marines deployed to the Middle East were released.
The group has also offered bounties on the heads of Israeli academics, government officials, journalists, and defense personnel in December.
In March, the US Department of Justice seized four web domains associated with Handala target lists and information dumps, alleging that the organization was a front for Iranian cyber warfare.
“Iran thought they could hide behind fake websites and keyboard threats to terrorize Americans and silence dissidents,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “We took down four of their operation’s pillars, and we’re not done. The FBI will hunt down every actor behind these cowardly death threats and cyberattacks and will bring the full force of American law enforcement down on them.”
Handal dismissed the threats, restoring its archives to new websites and calling the seizure of its domains a “desperate attempt.”