Iranian hacker group ‘Handala’ says it breached Netanyahu chief of staff’s phone

While Netanyahu's office denied the claims, the group says it will release sensitive data involving Tzachi Braverman's contacts and information regarding the Qatargate scandal  

News Desk  -  The Cradle 

Handala, an Iranian hacker group, claimed on 28 December that it had hacked the phone of a close aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and would soon publish sensitive details of corruption involving the prime minister and his inner circle.

The hacker group said it acquired the material by hacking the iPhone of Netanyahu's chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, who was recently appointed as ambassador to the UK.

According to the hackers, some of the material to be released is linked to "Qatargate," a corruption scandal that erupted in Israel stemming from allegations that Netanyahu and his close advisers enabled, encouraged, or politically benefited from Qatar making payments to Hamas in the years before the 7 October Al-Aqsa Flood operation.

In a post on their X account, the hackers said they had broken into Braverman's iPhone and now possess "encrypted chats, hidden deals, shameful moral and financial indulgences, abuse of power, blackmail, payoffs."

Such a leak would give Iran access to his contacts, Netanyahu's internal security information, and other classified info.

The hackers said they had dubbed the breach "The Gatekeeper's Fall."

"To Netanyahu's inner circle, To every official still clutching the illusion of secrecy You feel it now: the tightening chest, the cold sweat, the gnawing dread. That's not just fear, it's the knowledge that every layer of your security, every secret entrusted to Tzachi Braverman, Netanyahu's Chief of Staff, gatekeeper, and vault of all forbidden truths, is now wide open," the group wrote on X.

"Today, you will finally understand what was really happening. The files, the voices, the videos, every thread of Braverman's double life, every secret that ties your regime to the heart of corruption, are about to surface," the group stated.

"Braverman, the man you thought was your strongest link, is now the crack that will split your world. Bibi Gate has begun."

Last year, allegations arose claiming Braverman blackmailed a military officer in order to get the minutes of a wartime cabinet meeting changed.

The Prime Minister's Office stated there had been "no indications" that Braverman's phone was compromised but was investigating the matter.

Handala also claimed to have sent Braverman's personal information to the private email address of former prime minister Naftali Bennett.

Israeli security authorities and private cyber firms working with them assess that Iran has gained access to information belonging to additional senior Israeli officials, including ministers, security officials, Knesset members, and former politicians. According to these assessments, the breach did not involve hacking the phones themselves, but instead exploiting vulnerabilities in the Telegram app and in neglected cloud accounts linked to the targets. Officials say there is no indication of a widespread breach at this stage, but some individuals were instructed to take preventive measures, with a few advised to replace their phones altogether.