Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Israel Defense Forces Twitter, Falsely Claims Nuclear Reactor Leak

The group of hackers calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army compromised the official Twitter account of the Israeli Defense Forces Thursday, issuing a false threat of nuclear radiation.

“#WARNING: Possible nuclear leak in the region after 2 rockets hit Dimona nuclear facility,” read the tweet, which was sent at 4:15 p.m. EDT. A later tweet mentioned the @Official_SEA16 account, linked to an image of the SEA flag. The Israeli Defense Forces regained control of the account a few minutes later, deleting the tweets and promising to target the hackers responsible.

No such rocket attacks occurred, the IDF said. Spokesman Peter Lerner told journalist Alexander Marquardt that the “account got compromised,” offering no other details.

The southern Israeli desert city of Dimona is host to a top-secret nuclear facility that Israel acknowledges the existence of, but refuses to offer any details about. It is reportedly used for the construction of nuclear weapons, although the information is considered classified by the State of Israel.

The nuclear reactor in Dimona, known as the Negev Nuclear Research Center, has been reportedly shut down over fears it was vulnerable to an attack by Iranian missiles.