The conflict between Israel and Hamas is quickly transforming into a global online war.
State media from Iran, Russia, and to a lesser extent, China, along with major social networking platforms, have been used to support Hamas and undermine Israel. They have also criticized Israel’s main ally, the United States.
Iran’s proxies in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, as well as extremist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State that were previously at odds with Hamas, have also joined the online battle.
Government officials and independent researchers state that the flood of online propaganda and disinformation is larger than anything seen before, reflecting the world’s geopolitical division.
“It is being seen by millions, hundreds of millions of people around the world,” said Rafi Mendelsohn, vice president at Cyabra, a social media intelligence company in Tel Aviv. “And it’s impacting the war in a way that is probably just as effective as any other tactic on the ground.” Cyabra has identified over 40,000 bots or fake accounts online since Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7.
The content, which is often false, emotionally charged, and politically biased, has fueled anger and violence beyond Gaza, raising concerns that it could escalate the conflict. Although Iran denies any involvement in Hamas’ attack, its foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, has threatened retaliation on “multiple fronts” if Israeli forces continue in Gaza.
Moustafa Ayad, executive director for Africa, the Middle East, and Asia at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue in London, stated, “It’s just like everyone is involved.” The institute recently detailed influence campaigns by Iran, Russia, and China.
American and other government officials and experts say that the campaigns do not appear to be coordinated, though they do not rule out cooperation.
Iran, Russia, and China have different reasons for backing Hamas over Israel, but they share the same themes since the war began. They are not only providing moral support, but also conducting overt and covert information campaigns to amplify each other’s views and expand their global reach on various platforms and languages.
For instance, the Spanish arm of RT, the global Russian television network, recently reposted a statement by the Iranian president, labeling the explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza on Oct. 17 as an Israeli war crime. Western intelligence agencies and independent analysts, however, have since stated that a missile misfire from Gaza was the more likely cause of the blast.
Posts like these, without evidence, including one from another Russian news outlet Sputnik India, claiming the United States provided the bomb that destroyed the hospital, have received tens of thousands of views.
James P. Rubin, head of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, described the situation as an undeclared information war with authoritarian countries.
Hamas has employed a wide, sophisticated media strategy inspired by groups like the Islamic State since the beginning of its attack. Using bot accounts, primarily from Pakistan, they spread graphic imagery on platforms like Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, bypassing bans on Hamas, according to Cyabra’s researchers.
Researchers and officials who monitor disinformation and extremism have been surprised by how rapidly and extensively Hamas’s message has spread online. This is likely due to the emotionally charged Israeli-Palestinian issue, coupled with graphic images of the violence captured in real time by Hamas gunmen. Networks of bots and official accounts from governments and state media in Iran, Russia, and China have also amplified the message on social media platforms.
