Israeli Planes Targeted in Attempted Takeover

At least two planes from Israel's El Al Airlines suffered hacking attempts from "hostile elements," according to several Israeli news outlets.

Both planes landed as planned, according to Mako, an independent Israeli news outlet. No group has claimed responsibility for the reported hacking attempts.

Mako, part of the Keshet Media Group, wrote that senior El Al officials reported that the incidents took place over the Somali region and had nothing to do with Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which is receiving growing criticism from the international community for the mounting death toll among civilians.

The Jerusalem Post reported that "hostile elements" tried to take over the communications network of an El Al plane flying from Phuket, Thailand, to Ben-Gurion airport in Israel on Saturday night. Hackers tried to divert the plane from its destination, giving crew members different directions, but the crew quickly changed means of communication and did not change the flight's route, the newspaper wrote.

The plane to Thailand left on Sunday, while the other plane was returning to Israel today. The point of departure of the second plane was not specified.

A similar hacking attempt was made on an El Al flight to Bangkok, The Jerusalem Post wrote. Newsweek reached out to El Al Airlines by phone early Monday for comment.

El Al told local news media that the hacking attempt didn't represent "a security incident," adding that "disturbances" in the Somali region "are not aimed at El Al planes."

An El Al source told The Jerusalem Post that "in Somalia, there have been communication interruptions all week, not only for El Al planes, and the official authorities have issued instructions to all pilots that as soon as this happens with a certain frequency, not to listen to the instructions and to switch to another communication method."

In late November 2023, more than a month after the October 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel, El Al Airlines said it was operating in "emergency mode" since the beginning of the war and had experienced a drop in profits.

Since the beginning of the war, the company has increased flights to and from the U.S., Thailand and European capitals like London and Paris. Flights to other destinations, on the other hand, have been temporarily suspended.

Several international airlines, including Virgin Atlantic and Air Canada, have temporarily suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv as the war goes on.

Update 2/19/24, 9:20 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.