ALBAWABA - As more information on Hamas Leader, Ismail Haniyeh's assassination becomes available, allegations are circulating that WhatsApp and its co-founder Yan Borysovych Koum may have been involved in disclosing the Palestinian resistance group leader's whereabouts to Israeli intelligence, according to Sputnik.
According to Sputnik, which cited a European newspaper, there are unconfirmed allegations that claim the assault may have been made possible by spyware that was planted on Haniyeh's phone via his WhatsApp account. This malware would have enabled accurate position monitoring.
Lebanese Brussels-based journalist Elijah J Mangier, longtime reporter in the region, has published an early report indicating that ahead of Haniyeh’s assassination, his position was determined while having a conversation with his son via malware that was installed on his mobile phone through WhatsApp.
According to IntelliNews, the malware in question is thought to be of the likes of the notorious Pegasus software developed by the Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group. Mangier did not disclose any sources, with detailed information on the assassination still limited as Iranian authorities continue their investigation.
Earlier in April, Anadolu Agency reported WhatsApp’s potential involvement in providing Israeli intelligence with information on Palestinians, sourcing goals for attacks.
Tech For Palestine founder, Paul Biggar, states that Israel does, in fact, get data from WhatsApp; however, it is not known if this data is obtained directly from Meta with requests, via a backdoor, or through another approach that is yet to be disclosed.
“Even though WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted, and claims to not have any backdoors to any government, the metadata alone is sufficient to expose detailed information about users, especially if the user’s phone number is attached to other Meta products and related activities,” Bahraini blogger and activist Esra’a Al Shafei notes.
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya stated that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh reflects the Israeli occupation's attempt to escape forward after being unable to accomplish its war objectives, stating that "Ismail Haniyeh was not in a secret place or away from the spotlight, and his assassination is not an intelligence achievement."
