An international investigation must be established to hold perpetrators of the simultaneous mass explosions targeting electronic devices across Lebanon and Syria, which injured more than 2,931 people and killed at least 37, including at least four civilians, accountable, said Amnesty International ahead of a UN Security Council meeting today to discuss the explosions.
Should Israel be determined to be responsible, then these attacks took place in the context of an ongoing armed conflict. The evidence indicates that those who planned and carried out these attacks could not verify who else in the immediate vicinity of the devices would be harmed at the time of the explosion, or even whether only fighters had been given the pagers and radios. Therefore, the attacks were carried out indiscriminately, would be unlawful under international humanitarian law and should be investigated as war crimes. The attacks also violated at a minimum the right to life under international human rights law, which continues to apply in situations of armed conflict, and likely other human rights, depending on the various impacts of the attack on the Lebanese population and their daily lives.
Although the Israeli government has not officially commented on the attacks, on 18 September, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that a “new era” of war with Lebanon is beginning and praised the “excellent achievements” of the Israeli security and intelligence, a statement which has been interpreted as an implicit acknowledgement of Israel’s role in the attacks. The Lebanese authorities and US officials have also indicated they believe Israel orchestrated the attacks.