An Iranian hacker group called Handala, known for attempted cyberattacks against Israeli targets, posted an overnight statement between Friday and Saturday, along with photos and video, claiming it had broken into the car of a “senior Israeli nuclear scientist.” The group named the scientist and said it left a bouquet of flowers inside the vehicle that was supposedly “heavier than usual.”
In a post on the group’s Telegram channels and X account, Handala shared images and a clip it said were filmed near the scientist’s home. Alongside them, the hackers delivered a threatening message: “Yesterday you received our bouquet. A harmless object at first glance. But you noticed its weight, right? You felt the presence behind it, the hands that carried it, the footsteps that vanished a moment before you opened the door. Tell us, Dr. …, how is your car?”
The hackers’ footage, posted from near the ‘scientist’s’ residence
At the same time, the group published a list of names and phone numbers that it claimed belong to members of Unit 8200, Israel’s elite signals intelligence and cyber unit. It remains unclear whether operatives actually broke into the scientist’s car or whether the post is part of a sophisticated psychological operation. Israeli security officials have not responded publicly to the claims.
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The flowers and the threatening message they left in the breached car
Last week, an Iranian hacker group published the names, photos and personal details of 10 engineers and senior employees in Israel’s defense industries, offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who provides information about their whereabouts. “We expose those who believed their crimes could remain hidden in the dark,” the group wrote alongside the leak. Later that evening, Israel’s National Cyber Directorate said the page had been removed.
The hackers published the workers’ full names, phone numbers, towns of residence, roles, email addresses, résumés and other personal information. They sent a threatening message to the employees, saying: “This is not just an announcement. It is a warning that echoes in every corridor you walk through, every home you trust, every secret you keep.”
The group labeled each worker as “wanted,” writing that a $10,000 reward would be paid for “reliable information leading to his arrest.” The “information,” the group said, could include the employee’s precise location or activity. The hackers promised that any tips would be handled with “absolute confidentiality.”
A day earlier, Ynet reported on an anonymous website called The Punishment For Justice Movement that issued severe, targeted threats to kill senior Israeli academics. The site described them as “criminals and collaborators with the occupation army,” “spreaders of weapons of mass destruction for the Israeli army,” and people “involved in the murder of Palestinian children.”