Do exploding pagers violate international law?

The attack on Hezbollah’s communications network caused massive damage to the group. But was the attack, allegedly carried out by Israel, legal under international law?

The Middle East is once again on the brink of total war, with the Israeli government announcing new battle plans confirmed presence in southern Lebanon.

In response, Hezbollah leaders vow to target “just punishment” about Israel and intensification of rocket fire AND aerial bombing in the region’s stronghold appears to herald a new phase in the nearly year-long conflict in the Gaza Strip.

What happened?

Over the course of two days this week, thousands of personal communication devices were exploded in Lebanon, targeting members of the armed group Hezbollah.

On the first day, 3,000 pagers were remotely detonated. On the second day, thousands of two-way radios or walkie-talkies exploded, with reports that even laptops and solar power systems exploded in some parts of Beirut.

Yet, 37 people diedThousands of people have been injured and the Middle East is once again heading towards another historic moment.

Lebanon’s Health Minister said An eight-year-old girl and an eleven-year-old boy were killed in pager attacksand most of the thousands were injured in the capital Beirut.

More than 25 people have been reported dead So far, 450 people have been injured in radio telephone explosions.

Who is responsible?

At this stage, it is widely believed that Israel carried out the attacks. Israeli officials have not officially confirmed this.

Reuters reported that the secret Israeli cyber unit Eight Two, Zero-Zero, was involved in planning the attack. American media reported that that Israeli security agencies informed allies of their involvement.

The manufacturers of walkie-talkies and pagers claim they had nothing to do with the operation.

How was it done?

It has been suggested that Israeli intelligence discovered that Hezbollah planned to update about 5,000 old pagersThe project was completed about five months ago.

A Japanese company that produces two-way radios. ICOM says it has stopped This model is believed to have been used in a second attack that occurred more than a decade ago.

Golden Apollo, The Taiwanese company that manufactured the pagers claimed that it had licensed its product to a Hungarian company in order to fulfill the order, which in turn claimed that the order was fulfilled by a Bulgarian company.

It is believed that Israeli intelligence managed to intercept the order.

Reuters sources said that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and remained “undetected” by Hezbollah for months.

When it was suspected that the plan had been violated, a coded message was sent to the pagers. This message caused the devices to detonate. About 3000 out of 5000 exploded.

The next day, thousands of portable two-way radios exploded. Reports indicate that these devices were to be used in any war between Israel and Lebanon.

Several explosions were observed as people attended funerals for those killed in the previous day’s attacks.

A Reuters reporter in the southern suburbs of Beirut claimed to have seen Hezbollah members removing batteries from walkie-talkies that had not exploded and throwing them into metal barrels.

Is this a violation of international law?

Questions arose about the legality of the attack and its justification under international law.

This conversation has yet another nuance when we consider that Hezbollah is not a nation-state but a paramilitary group that, while financed and supported by Iran, is only part of broader Lebanese society.

Interview with the 360info podcast Leave it to the experts, Tamer Morris of the University of Sydney agrees that international law is complex and nuanced, but certain rules must be followed by all parties.

“In an international armed conflict, it is only permissible to attack those directly taking part in hostilities,” Dr Morris said.

He added that since Hezbollah is not a state organization, “as long as someone is part of this group and has a combat role, technically they can be targeted.”

“The question is whether these pagers and walkie-talkies were given exclusively to Hezbollah people who are fighters,” he said.

“There could be someone who is a doctor, there could be someone who is an accountant. So if they are targeted, technically it would be illegal.

“We need to make sure that all new weapons do not exceed the level of suffering that we expect. Unjust suffering is the term we use now.

“If they were targeting people who were not involved in Hezbollah combat operations, then technically it is a violation of the law.

“They must also ensure that any weapons they use can distinguish between military and civilian items.

“If the person who committed these acts exercised surveillance in the area and ensured that all precautions were taken and that losses and damage to civilians were minimized, then they did not break the law.

“But again, the videos we watched look like they were launched randomly. And they were all launched together, instead of being monitored individually.

“These types of weapons are now non-selective because they explode randomly.

“For example… we can’t be certain that a pager can’t be in someone’s car or that someone gave a pager to their child. Because of that, weapons now become indistinguishable.”

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abia told CNN “the vast majority” the wounded were civilians who had nothing to do with the group’s fight against Israel.

What happens next?

It is worth remembering that Israel has not officially confirmed that it was behind the attack.

However, the situation is developing rapidly, and Israel’s declared goal of eliminating Hamas from Gaza seems to be taking a back seat to the events in Lebanon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a short statement on Thursdayconfirming new war goals that include the return of displaced communities from the border regions with Lebanon.

Then, Israeli military infrastructure began to move in much larger numbers towards the Lebanese border, moving away from the Gaza Strip.

This The US is concerned about Israel starting the ground war in Lebanon.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claims pager attack “I crossed all the red lines” and he swore to ask “just punishment” about Israel.

Originally published under Creative Commons License By Information 360.

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