The websites of two government ministries in Bahrain have become temporarily inaccessible after a statement said they had been taken down by hackers over the Kingdom of Bahrain’s stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The websites of two government ministries in Bahrain were taken down by hackers on Tuesday night, after a statement said they had been taken down by hackers over the island kingdom’s stance on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. It became temporarily inaccessible.
A statement posted online by a self-styled group calling itself Al-Tufan (Arabic for “Flood”) claimed that the websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Information had been hacked. Both were then accessible again on Tuesday night.
The statement said the alleged hacking was in retaliation for “unusual statements” made by the island’s ruling al-Khalifa family, but did not elaborate. Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa held a summit in Saudi Arabia last week, calling for an end to the hostage exchange and bloodshed between Hamas and Israel.
The Bahraini government did not respond to requests for comment. Bahrain’s state media has not acknowledged the incident.
In February, the self-styled group claimed to have shut down the websites of Bahrain’s international airport, state news agency and chamber of commerce to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the Arab Spring uprisings in the small Gulf nation. The same shadowy self-styled group targeted government websites during last year’s elections, which were boycotted by banned Shiite dissidents and others.
Bahrain, along with the United Arab Emirates, signed a diplomatic recognition agreement with Israel in 2020. The island nation, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, has repeatedly drawn criticism from its regional rival Iran over the issue.