Hamas built a functioning World Cup app and several dating apps to lure Israeli soldiers into giving up classified material, the Israeli military said Tuesday.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said operatives from the Islamist militant group created fake Facebook profiles where they pretended to be attractive young Israelis.

The Hamas operatives then used the Facebook profiles to contact Israeli soldiers - writing in slang Hebrew and punctuating their messages with emojis - and tried to convince them to download the mobile apps, the IDF said.

One app, called Gold Cup, was a World Cup app which Hamas updated with the latest football scores and statistics. “It actually was a very good one,” a senior IDF officer said.

A dating app called “GlanceLove” advertised itself as “the best choice for new lovers who care about their privacy and safety”. Another was branded "WinkChat".

Once downloaded, the apps would allow Hamas to access all data stored on the phone and to turn the mobile into a recording device for their own purposes.

The Israeli military said fewer than 100 soldiers fell for the Hamas trap by downloading the apps. In a briefing with reporters, an officer said military security had not been compromised by the downloads.