Travelers at airports in Pennsylvania and British Columbia were left shocked on Tuesday when loudspeakers suddenly played pro-Hamas messages along with slurs directed at Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Videos shared by passengers showed the unauthorized recordings echoing throughout the terminals at Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania and Kelowna International Airport in Canada. At Kelowna, screens also displayed messages praising Hamas and demanding a "Free Palestine," according to officials. Airport officials said the hackers had targeted both the public announcement systems and the flight information screens in what they described as an act of cyber-vandalism. The incident disrupted boarding and startled travelers, but did not affect flight safety.
Hamas Creates Havoc
At Harrisburg, "an unauthorized user managed to access the airport's PA system and played an unauthorized recorded message," an airport spokesperson, Scott Miller, told CNN affiliate WGAL. "The message was political in nature and did not contain any threats against the airport, our tenants, airlines, or passengers."
Miller said the system was quickly shut down, and police immediately launched an investigation.
He added that one flight already in the middle of boarding was searched "out of an abundance of caution," but no security threats were discovered, and the plane eventually took off safely.
Meanwhile, officials at Kelowna Airport — located nearly 2,000 miles away — reported a similar incident.
A third party had gained access to both its flight information screens and public address system, the airport confirmed in a statement to CNN. "We are experiencing some delayed flights," the release read.
"Free Palestine" chants could be heard in a passenger's video reviewed by CNN.
"Nobody informed us what was going on, there was no crisis response. Everyone was just really confused," the traveler told the network.
Photos shared on social media showed airport screens flashing pro-Hamas slogans before staff managed to shut down the feed. Officials at Kelowna Airport said the unauthorized messages were quickly deleted, normal flight information was restored, and teams were still working to completely reset the airport's sound system.
Tough Time
Canadian authorities — including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Transport Canada, and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority — said they are working together on the investigation. So far, no group has taken responsibility for the cyberattacks.
Since the Israel-Gaza conflict erupted in 2023, pro-Palestinian hacktivists have been behind several similar digital intrusions around the world.
Experts say these latest breaches expose the growing weaknesses in airport systems, which now depend heavily on cloud-based audio and display technology.
Earlier this year, in June, a criminal group hacked into the computer networks of several airlines in the U.S. and Canada, according to the FBI.
Just a month later, a major software outage caused widespread disruption at airports across Europe after hackers took down check-in systems used by dozens of airlines.
Over the past two years, hacktivist groups claiming to support the Palestinian cause have carried out hundreds of cyberattacks on transportation, financial, and government networks worldwide.
One hacker network, known as the Dark Storm Team, has previously attacked U.S. airports, NATO servers, and Israeli infrastructure.
Other groups linked to the long-running OpIsrael campaign have taken down or defaced public websites across North America.
