Unprecedented number of Israeli websites hacked: Hundreds of websites were damaged by hackers in recent hours, following IDF activity in the Gaza Strip. The hackers are members of the Moroccan "Team Evil" group, responsible for most of the website damage in Israel in the past year. This is the largest, most concentrated attack on Israeli websites in recent years.

A Ynet investigation revealed that more than 750 Israeli websites, on a number of different domains, were hacked into and damaged in recent days. Prominent among them were the Soldier's Treasury Bank, Bank Hapoalim (not the main page), Rambam Hospital, the Society for Culture and Housing, BMW Israel, Subaru Israel, Jump Fashion, non-profit organization "Yedid," Kadima's youth website, and the Globus Group ticket center. Many of these sites have not yet returned to normal.

Hackers left the message: You're killing Palestinians, we're killing servers.

Early on Wednesday, the IDF began operation "Summer Rains" in Gaza: Forces entered the southern end of the strip, adjacent to the
point of Cpl. Gilad Shavit's kidnap. The air force attacked a power station and blacked out areas of Gaza. Three bridges were bombed in central Gaza, in order to prevent movement of the kidnapped soldier.

Many Israeli websites are hacked every day - most of these are small sites, with inadequate information security. It is significantly different when the sites are ones of large companies, who have adequate defenses from this sort of attack.

Past success of Team Evil

In the past, Team Evil succeeded in hacking into several sites of medium-sized but recognized Israeli companies. In April, they hit tens of sites, including those of the "Shilav" children's store, "The Blue Square" supermarket and McDonald's.

The group's spokesman previously told Ynet that "we are a group of Moroccan hackers that hack into sites as part of the resistance in the war with Israel. We attack Israeli sites every day. This is our duty...hacking is not a crime."

Added another group member: "We want Israel to stop fighting. Stop killing children and we'll stop hacking." According to the spokesman, the group's members are all Moroccan youths, under the age of 20.

The increase in hacking of websites following military operations is a well-known phenomenon, in Israel and in the rest of the world. A similar increase was seen in attacks on both Israeli and Arab websites in the first days of the second intifada, pursuant to military operations that took place in Gaza, Judea and Samaria at that time.

He said, "Israel is without doubt one of the most abhorrent and despicable regimes on the planet. According to the UN Secretary General for Political Affairs, in the month prior to the capture of the Israeli soldier by Palestinians at least 49 Palestinians, including 11 children, were killed by Israeli forces and 259 injured. A ground assault on Gaza began yesterday involving tanks, bulldozers, thousands of troops undercover of air fire and the demolition of key pieces of civilian infrastructure including bridges and Gaza's electric power plant. The bombardment of civilian infrastructure amounts to collective punishment and a crime against humanity and the abduction and imprisonment by Israel of some 25 democratically elected Palestinian representatives demonstrates the true nature of Israel's commitment to not so democratic principles.

"Minister Ahern must clarify whether the Department of Foreign Affairs approves of the use of Shannon for the transfer of helicopters or any military apparatus to Israel. He must also indicate if he agrees that the role played by this state in the sale and transfer of arms and military apparatus to human rights abusers is absolutely unacceptable and must cease immediately and what steps he will take to ensure this ceases."

"The death of the Israeli settler is deeply regrettable and I would call on the Palestinians who are holding the Israeli soldier not to harm him."

Haniyeh also urged followers at a mosque in Gaza City to remain steadfast despite Israel's arrest of 64 Hamas officials in the West Bank on Thursday. Though Haniyeh did not directly address Israel's demand that Palestinian militants hand over the soldier, he implied that the government would not trade him for the arrested officials.

"When they kidnaped the ministers they meant to hijack the government's position, but we say no positions will be hijacked, no governments will fall,'' he said.

In night raids across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, Israeli troops rounded up most of the ministers and MPs representing the non-Gaza wing of the Palestinian ruling party, Hamas.

Hamas has described the raids as an act of "open war against the Palestinian Government and people" and said Israel would have to face the consequences.

Israeli spokesmen have denied that the Hamas leaders - reported to number 64, including most of the Ramallah-based cabinet - were seized as bargaining chips for the release of 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit, captured by Palestinian fighters in a raid on the edge of Gaza on Sunday.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official, Mark Regev, said Hamas was formally regarded as a terrorist organisation in Israel, the US, the European Union and Australia and that its leaders would be brought before an Israeli judge and charged with terrorist offences.

"If the government of the Palestinian Authority says it's OK to send rockets into Israel, to kidnap Israelis, to behave like terrorists, then they will be treated like terrorists," he said.

Israel's move against the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank is only the most serious of a number of grave developments threatening to escalate an already fraught situation into all-out war and humanitarian disaster.

Yesterday Israel launched an air strike on a car in Gaza City carrying a senior Islamic Jihad militant, who survived the attack, Palestinian sources said. The Israeli Army said it had targeted a vehicle, but gave no details about who it believed was inside.

An explosion was also reported in Gaza City near the headquarters of a key security agency loyal to the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, witnesses said.

On Wednesday Israeli jets buzzed the summer palace of Syria's President, Bashar Assad, driving home Israel's threat to assassinate Hamas leaders at large in Gaza and in exile in Syria. Syria said its air defences fired on the aircraft without hitting them.

Early yesterday Israeli troops found the body of a murdered 18-year-old Jewish settler - Eliyahu Asheri, who is the son of an Australian immigrant - abducted by Palestinian militants in the West Bank on Sunday.

In Gaza, meanwhile, militants belonging to the mainstream Fatah military wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, claim to have fired a chemical-tipped missile into Israel for the first time.

The Israeli Army said it had no information to support the claim, but it was likely to increase the pressure for an Israeli crackdown in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza, from where most of the missiles are fired.

During the night, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets warning residents that the area faced increased bombardment.

Israel's Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has said that Israel will not negotiate to release Corporal Shalit and will take "extreme actions" if he is not freed.

"Our aim is not to mete out punishment but to apply pressure so the soldier will be freed," he said. "We want to create a new equation: freeing the abducted soldier in return for lessening the pressure on the Palestinians."

Over the past 48 hours, Israeli attacks - including artillery bombardments, tank incursions and the destruction of two bridges and the strip's only power station - have left 700,000 people without power and threaten to cut off water to 1.3 million Gazans.

The actions have been condemned as "collective punishment" by human rights groups and by the British Foreign Office.

Mr Rejev rejected the allegations, saying that in warfare civilian infrastructure is a "legitimate target". He said the attack on the power station, like the destruction of two bridges, was designed to make it more difficult for Corporal Shalit's captors to move him from place to place.

Militants want Israel to free more than 8000 Palestinian prisoners in return for the corporal.

Palestinians said their attacks were in response to an Israeli blockade that has plunged the enclave into poverty and led to a big increase in civilian deaths.

Media said a probably high level of Palestinian civilian casualties was the reason for his decision.

The suspension will also give more time for negotiations to secure the release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier seized last Sunday during a Palestinian attack.

Two other soldiers were killed in the attack.

The present crisis is being seen as the first major test for Olmert who, unlike his predecessor Ariel Sharon, does not have a prestigious military record.

Univision Communications, the largest Spanish-broadcasting television company in the US, agreed to a USD 12.3 billion purchase offer from the Saban Group, led by American-Israeli billionaire Haim Saban.

The deal, equivalent to USD 36.25 per share, represents a 13 percent premium on the share's stock market price. The Saban Group, which is also acquiring the company's USD 1.4 billion worth of debt, includes the companies of Madison Dearborn, Providence Equity, Texas Pacific Group and Thomas Lee.

The Saban group upped their previous offer of USD 35.50 per share, in order to outbid competitors such a Grupo Television. With the purchase of Univision Communications, the group is acquiring the Univision and TeleFutura television stations, together constituting an 80 percent chunk of the fastest growing television market in the United States and dwarfing rivals like NBC Universal's Telmondo and TV Azteca's Azteca America. Univision Communications also contains Galvision, the largest Spanish-language radio network in the US, with 69 radio stations.

Univision CEO, Gerald Francio (75), put the company up for sale in February, hoping to receive USD 40 per share. The sales announcement was almost pulled off the table when Mexico City Television, the largest Spanish broadcast television channel in the world, lost four partners and wasn't able to extend a purchase offer. The company is partners with Baine Capital and Cascade Investments (Bill Gates' investment company). The four partners who left the company, due to differences of opinion regarding the company's prices, were Carlyle, Blackstone, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, and Newvision Investments.

Saban postpones visit to Israel

Eventually, Mexico City Television did extend an offer, higher than Saban's original bid, but the Saban group upped their offer and won.

Haim Saban was scheduled to arrive in Israel this week, to participate in a director's meeting for the Bezeq Corporation, of which he has partial control, and a director's meeting for Channel 2 Keshet, where he owns 24 percent of the company's stocks.

Pursuant to the deal with Univision, Saban postponed his visit to Israel, which caused the director's meetings of the two companies to be postponed by a week. Currently, however, it seems that Saban will not arrive in Israel in a week's time or any time before August. To replace him at the meetings, he will most likely send Adam Chesnoff, a former Israeli and the president and CEO of Saban Capital Group, who was also involved in closing the current deal.