Irish military intelligence believes that pro-Israeli Bot networks have been spreading misinformation online about the presence of Irish troops in the south Lebanon in order to ensure the withdrawal of peacekeeping troops from the region.

This misinformation included false claims on social media that Irish troops were sympathetic Hezbollah and willfully failed to implement them Unifil’s mandate to disarm the militant group.

In some cases, these suspected botnets have encouraged direct attacks on Irish outposts, while accusing peacekeepers and the Irish in general of holding anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic views.

J2, the Defense Forces intelligence office and other branches of the Defense Forces in early October when Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have invaded the country, security sources said.

Since then, Unifil bases have been hit several times by both the IDF and Hezbollah. Most incidents have been attributed to Israel, including seven that Unifil says were deliberate attacks.

Military experts have been unable to link the online disinformation campaign directly to Israel. But sources noted that it mirrors similar campaigns by the Israeli government, including an operation launched last year that used sophisticated botnets to target US lawmakers and drum up support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

These bot accounts generate posts using artificial intelligence and are almost indistinguishable from real social media users. They are often scheduled to comment on news articles or social media posts that receive a lot of public attention.

The main goal of the current bot campaign appears to be undermining international support for UNIFIL, especially in countries that contribute troops to the mission.

Many of the messages underline, and in some cases exaggerate, the dangers facing Irish troops or call for them to be directly targeted by the IDF.

Of particular concern to Irish military management is the impact this has on family members in Ireland. A number of family members are understood to have contacted the Defense Force in distress after seeing information online which turned out to be false.

“The idea is to build a big opinion to convince governments to withdraw their troops,” said one source.

( Free ‘family reunion flights’ for overseas peacekeepers serving in LebanonOpens in a new window )

Other Unifil troop-contributing countries have been targeted by disinformation in similar ways, including the spread of unsubstantiated claims that Hezbollah militants paid Unifil personnel to use their positions to fire on the IDF.

The Defense Forces were limited in their ability to counter the threat, apart from issuing regular official updates on the situation in southern Lebanon.

In some cases, it disabled comments on social media posts about Ireland’s Unifil mission to prevent them from being overrun by suspected bots.

A Defense Force spokesman declined to comment on the matter, except to say that its official social media accounts and family liaison network “are the accurate source of information for families and the media”.

He said Defense Force headquarters was “in constant contact with Irish personnel deployed in all overseas mission areas, including Unifil, through secure means of communication”.

The activities of these suspected botnets were supported by many posts from genuine accounts.

Last month, former White House adviser Matthew Brodsky tweeted that “Israel should bomb the Irish area and then drop napalm on it.”

In another post, he said: “I hope all those POS Irish are blown to bits.” He has since resigned from his role as an adviser to a Republican candidate for Congress.

Unifil has long been a target of disinformation. In previous years, much of this has come from Hezbollah or its affiliated groups, including claims that Unifil troops are acting as spies for Israel.

The result was a significant deterioration in the relationship between Unifil and local communities.