An Iranian-linked hacker group called Handala claimed to have hit Israeli military targets with massive cyberattacks on Sunday, June 7 2026. The group used the Telegram messaging app to announce they had successfully disrupted signal networks across Israel’s military radar systems.
What’s interesting here is the timing of the announcement, as Handala’s claim perfectly coincides with a chaotic real-world development, as Israel and Iran broke their two-month ceasefire by trading heavy missile strikes on the same day.
Handala also boasted to have placed the Kfar Yona municipality, a local town hall in central Israel, under a digital siege. In their public messages, the group warned: “Today marks the beginning of the end.” They added that these actions were only a first warning to Israel and any countries supporting it.
Verifying Handala’s Claims
The research firm SOCRadar investigated these claims and shared its findings with Hackread.com. In their report, SOCRadar reveals that these claims are highly exaggerated because Handala, reportedly, posted screenshots of an online panel for a Tadiran Telecom Aeonix system to prove the attack.
“The group did share a couple of screenshots on its Telegram channel, but these show the IVR (Interactive Voice Response) admin panel of a system consistent with the Tadiran Telecom Aeonix system… The screenshots display a sample auto attendant call-routing script with the default language set to Hebrew and several Hebrew-language entries in the sidebar,” the report reveals.
However, researchers noted that this software manages office telephone routing and has nothing to do with army radar networks. The evidence matched an entry into a municipal phone system, but failed to show any breach of military air defense infrastructure.
The Background of the War
The war between Iran and Israel officially started on 28 February 2026 with the launch of a massive joint bombing campaign called Operation Epic Fury by the United States and Israel. It then intensified following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
This incident resulted in retaliatory missile and drone attacks lasting several weeks. In early April, Pakistan brokered a temporary ceasefire halting the direct fighting for nearly two months, which ended on Sunday, 7 June.
Handala‘s History of Threats and Hacks
This group has a history of timing such claims with real-world military actions for maximum psychological impact. It has conducted documented operations since the war started. These include a confirmed data-wiping attack that disrupted the networks of medical technology firm Stryker Corporation, an incident that later prompted FBI domain seizures and a Department of Justice attribution.
The same group also claimed responsibility for breaching FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal Gmail account and leaking private photos and documents. Last month, a clothing store linked to Kash Patel was also compromised in a ClickFix attack that tried to trick visitors into installing malware, though the culprits have not been identified.
That’s why Handala’s unverified radar claim makes little sense, as exposing a genuine military breach on Telegram would be “operationally reckless,” researchers believe. Nevertheless, while the latest claims may not be accurate, researchers warned that Iran-linked hackers remain active.
(Photo by Tom Donders on Unsplash)
