Israel's 'Jerusalem Post' website hacked on Suleimani assassination anniversary

Site's main news page was replaced by an illustration that contained a cryptic reference to the Iranian general killed on January 3, 2020

The image that was displayed on 'The Jerusalem Post' website after it was hacked on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Israel's Jerusalem Post newspaper said on Monday its website had been hacked with what appeared to be a threat to the country.

Instead of displaying the main news page, the website showed an illustration that contained a reference to top Iranian general Qassem Suleimani, who was assassinated in a US drone strike in Iraq on January 3, 2020.

The image showed a missile descending from a fist with a red ring, much like a distinctive piece Suleimani used to wear.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the hack.

The image also included an exploding target from a recent Iranian military drill that was designed to look like an Israeli nuclear research site near the city of Dimona.

The Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Centre is home to decades-old underground laboratories that reprocess the reactor’s spent rods to obtain weapons-grade plutonium for Israel’s nuclear weapons programme.

With plutonium from Dimona, Israel is widely believed to have become one of only nine nuclear-armed countries in the world.

Israel neither confirms nor denies having nuclear weapons.

The Jerusalem Post, an English-language daily, tweeted that it was working to resolve the issue.

"We are aware of the apparent hacking of our website, alongside a direct threat [to] Israel," it said.

Its mobile app did not appear to be affected. Other major Israeli news websites were working normally.

There was no immediate response from the Israeli government and Iran did not immediately acknowledge the hack either.