During the latest round of fighting between Israel and Gaza-based terrorist groups, there was a deluge of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity on Facebook, Twitter, and similar sites, ranging from the merely deluded to the vile. But not all of it was due to the spontaneous spread of “viral” comments. Emily Schrader notes the seemingly orchestrated activities emanating from Malaysia, a country whose recently retired prime minister was notorious for his anti-Semitic declarations:

During the operation in May, the IDF announced that it was its policy to target Hamas activists anywhere, including, specifically, Malaysia. . . . From May 10 to May 21, anti-Israel trolls from Malaysia launched an organized and coordinated cyberbullying [campaign, involving] efforts to hack into social-media accounts of major pro-Israel voices (including mine) and to lock their accounts. In addition, they used information from data leaks to spam private citizens and public officials on WhatsApp, [a popular messaging service], effectively locking their accounts.

For example, Malaysian trolls were able to obtain the personal phone number of the IDF Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee, and locked his WhatsApp account during a military operation.

New research on what happened during the operation indicates an orchestrated and well-planned effort across social-media platforms to target Israeli and Jewish users. Using [the encrypted-messaging software] Telegram, activists in Malaysia used channels with thousands of such as “Team Suspend Twitter” in which they sent out lists of major pro-Israel accounts, followed by instructions on how to maliciously attack the accounts with fake passwords to trigger account suspension.

One of the leading groups behind this cyberattack was a Facebook group called the “Malaysian Troll Army” which has over half a million followers. . . . Another group which works with the Malaysian Troll Army is the Cinta Syria Malaysia, with 300,000 followers, and its sister organization, Cinta Gaza Malaysia, which is run by a Malaysian in Gaza, Nadir al-Nuri.

On Tuesday, a Hizballah drone attack injured three people in northern Israel. The next day, another attack, targeting an IDF base, injured eighteen people, six of them seriously, in Arab al-Amshe, also in the north. This second attack involved the simultaneous use of drones carrying explosives and guided antitank missiles. In both cases, the defensive systems that performed so successfully last weekend failed to stop the drones and missiles. Ron Ben-Yishai has a straightforward explanation as to why: the Lebanon-backed terrorist group is getting better at evading Israel defenses. He explains the three basis systems used to pilot these unmanned aircraft, and their practical effects:

These systems allow drones to act similarly to fighter jets, using “dead zones”—areas not visible to radar or other optical detection—to approach targets. They fly low initially, then ascend just before crashing and detonating on the target. The terrain of southern Lebanon is particularly conducive to such attacks.

But this requires skills that the terror group has honed over months of fighting against Israel. The latest attacks involved a large drone capable of carrying over 50 kg (110 lbs.) of explosives. The terrorists have likely analyzed Israel’s alert and interception systems, recognizing that shooting down their drones requires early detection to allow sufficient time for launching interceptors.

The IDF tries to detect any incoming drones on its radar, as it had done prior to the war. Despite Hizballah’s learning curve, the IDF’s technological edge offers an advantage. However, the military must recognize that any measure it takes is quickly observed and analyzed, and even the most effective defenses can be incomplete. The terrain near the Lebanon-Israel border continues to pose a challenge, necessitating technological solutions and significant financial investment.