Israeli military video warns soldiers of Hamas honeypot hackers

The Israeli military has released a public service announcement warning soldiers to be vigilant of Hamas intelligence services pretending to be attractive young women online.

Israel's military intelligence directorate released the video announcement this week titled "this is how Hamas takes over your phone" to warn troops of an online honeytrap operation by the Islamist movement.

"One day a girl sent me a message on Facebook," a soldier, whose voice distorted and face darkened, says.

"So I spoke to her for a couple of days in a row. She told me she had done her military service in the prison service," he says in Hebrew.

"She asked me where I was from and what did I do, so I told her I was in the army. The relationship got closer after some time and I started to trust her bit by bit. She told me to download an application so we could talk,"

"I suddenly realised I wasn't talking to a young woman I was talking to Hamas!"

The anonymous serviceman explains that the fake app had taken over his mobile phone and his movement and conversations were being monitored.

"They could see through my camera even when the phone was turned off. Simply you are giving information to the enemy without realising it," he adds.

On Tuesday, an Israeli military spokesman revealed that dozens of Israeli soldiers had been hacked by Hamas operatives, using fake profiles on social media with alluring photos of women.

Officials however did not say how the army determined that those behind the scheme were from Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.

The Arabic-language hashtag #HamasHackers gained traction on Twitter shortly after news broke of the online operation.

"We must not forget that the clean security and political situation Hamas has created in Gaza is what has allowed its forces to develop this ingenious form of resistance," said one Twitter user.

Another user commented: "The war began on land then it moved to the sea as well now it's also electronic. God knows what we'll see next."