The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas vehemently denounced on Thursday a cyberespionage campaign run by the Palestinian Preventive Security Service (PSS) against Palestinians.

Hamas Spokesman Hazem Qasem said, “We seriously view the report published by Facebook about widespread spaying and extortion conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA)’s PSS against Palestinian citizens, politicians and journalists.”

In a tweet, Qasem stressed that such behavior is “condemned and deplored and constitutes an appalling and grave law violation and serious intrusion on citizens’ privacy guaranteed by the law.”

Hamas spokesman affirmed that the findings of the Facebook report contradict “the foundations of national and political work and do not go in line with the required national atmosphere,” especially amid the arrangements being made to hold Palestinian elections.

It is worth noting that Facebook had said that it had disabled accounts used by the PSS to spy on journalists, human rights activists, and political opponents.

According to Facebook, the PSS targeted "journalists and people opposed to the Fatah-led government," mainly in the West Bank, Gaza, and Syria.