LONDON (JTA) — Warning messages sent to the cell phones of Israeli soldiers and their families originated from the United Kingdom, according to reports.
The SMS messages received Tuesday night by hundreds of cell phones across Israel warned soldiers of their fate if they entered Gaza.
According to media reports in Britain and Israel, checks of the code from the sender’s number revealed the texts originated in the United Kingdom.
Initially it was assumed that the text messages were part of Hamas psychological warfare and were sent from the Gaza Strip aiming to create fear and panic. However, according to the British newspaper The Sun, “British supporters of the Islamic fanatics in the besieged Gaza Strip were assumed to be responsible for the scare tactics last night.”
The text messages, sent in English, read: “Come on into Gaza. Lots of surprises waiting for your sons, the least of which is death — Hamas.”
Attempts by Israeli and British security services to trace the sender of the text messages failed, as the line had apparently been disconnected.
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