By D. IAN HOPPER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Pakistani-based hackers attacked a U.S. Web site belonging to a pro-Israel lobby Wednesday, stealing credit card numbers and member records in the latest volley in what has become an online war between Israel and Arabs.

The attack, against the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, consisted of the hackers defacing its Web site with pro-Palestinian slogans and e-mails downloaded from the Web site databases.

The lobby confirmed the attack and has reported it to the FBI (news - web sites), according to The Washington Post , which, with The New York Times, reported the story Friday.

The Pakistan Hackerz Club, which consists of at least two members known as ``Doctor Nuker'' and ``Mr-Sweet,'' took responsibility for the attack and their logo appeared on the defaced Web site, which has since been repaired.

The hackers wrote, ``The hack is to protest against the atrocities in Palestine by the barbarian Israeli soldiers and their constant support by the US government. Instead of writing articles or putting pictures of Israel's atrocities in Palestine, this time I've put emails and comments that I got from the Web site.''

The comments, downloaded from the Web site itself, were pro-Palestinian.

The hackers also downloaded the credit card information and made the numbers public on other Web sites run by the club. An AIPAC official told The Post that the 700 affected members have been notified of the incident.

B.K. DeLong, a staff member of Attrition.org, which records Web site defacements, told The Associated Press Friday that this form of hacking is meant more for the general public than the target government.

``I'm not sure if political leaders in the center of the issue being brought up in the defacements really pay attention to them unless it happens to be their own organization, government or departmental Web site,'' said DeLong. ``However they do enlighten the general public to the situation or perhaps people in other countries who are tech savvy but may not be aware of the issue.''

In the past year, the Pakistan Hackerz Club has defaced over a hundred Web sites. Normally, its attacks are targeted against Indian government and business Web sites, where they post statements and pictures supporting Muslim Kashmiris.

Hacktivism - as the mix of hacking and activism is called - on the whole is on the rise, as the practice is easy for young, opinionated and perhaps disaffected youths who look for a way to strike out against governments with little risk. With so many Web sites available to them as targets, it's easy for them to find one with lax security, ripe for an attack.

Since violence flared up between Israelis and Palestinians several weeks ago, Web site administrators on both sides have been busy defending their sites against attack from enemy hackers attempting to win a propaganda war against the other side.

In the volleys, hackers have targeted the Web sites of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, an Israeli Internet provider and several sites run by the Hezbollah guerrillas.

On Oct. 26, the National Infrastructure Protection Center, the FBI's cyber cops, warned that U.S. government and private-sector Web sites may become potential targets in the online skirmish.

Still, DeLong said, the vast majority of defaced Web sites are done as mischief.