"this is state terrorism and should be sanctioned"
2024-09-20
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a day later, many places in lebanonanother explosion of communications equipmentin two days, similar incidents have caused more than 30 deaths and more than 4,000 injuries, including many children and medical staff.
lebanon's hezbollah accused israel of "full responsibility" for the incident and vowed to retaliate; the international community condemned the explosion and generally believed that israel planned a series of attacks. israel, as usual, adopted a "neither admit nor deny" attitude and has not responded so far.
the series of attacks seemed to target members of hezbollah in lebanon, but the explosions in downtown areas caused many innocent civilians to be harmed, resulting in heavy casualties. many human rights organizations and activists around the world bluntly stated that israel's actions could be called state terrorism.
on the other hand, the means and scale of the bombings were unprecedented, and they also sounded the alarm for supply chain security. some us media bluntly stated that the explosions from pagers to walkie-talkies indicate that the front lines of future wars may be infinitely extended, daily necessities are also unreliable, and supply chain wars will continue.
“never before have so many eyeballs been removed in one day”
the conflict between israel and lebanon's hezbollah has a long history. after the outbreak of a new round of israeli-palestinian conflict in october last year, hezbollah frequently attacked military targets in northern israel to support the palestinian islamic resistance movement (hamas), and the israeli army responded with air strikes and artillery bombardments. in july this year, hezbollah senior commander fouad chokr was killed in an israeli air strike, further igniting the war between the two sides.
however, the massive explosion of lebanon's communications equipment still shocked the international community.
to avoid being located by israel, hezbollah militants have been using pagers as a low-tech means of communication. sources said that the israeli intelligence agency mossad had planted explosives in 5,000 pagers ordered by hezbollah several months ago, and the batch of walkie-talkies that exploded on the 18th were purchased at about the same time. in addition, some reports mentioned that batteries in some lebanese solar equipment and cars were also detonated that day.
reports and videos on the 17th showed that the explosions occurred in supermarkets, fruit stalls, streets and other public places, killing at least two children and four medical staff. nearly two-thirds of the thousands of injured required surgery on their faces, eyes or hands, and many had to undergo amputations.
on september 18, 2024, local time, in the ancient city of tyre, lebanon, the injured are receiving treatment. visual china
tracy chamoun, a lebanese writer and former ambassador to jordan, was driving on an overpass in the southern suburbs of beirut when the explosion occurred. suddenly, she saw someone lying on the ground.
"when they started scrambling to get these people to the hospital, everything became a mess. cars were pushed aside, and motorcycles and cars drove over with people covered in blood," chamoun told the british broadcasting corporation (bcc). "i saw one of the injured was blinded and another had half of his face torn off."
chamoun said that the pager would make a sound before it was detonated, attracting people to take it out to check. this statement is similar to what iranian sources had previously described to the new york times, that is, some victims were injured in the eyes and eye area when checking the pager. iranian ambassador to lebanon amani was also injured in the eye in the explosion.
an ophthalmologist at mount lebanon hospital in beirut said the past 24 hours had been a "nightmare" and that more than 60% to 70% of the injured had one eye removed. "some patients had to have both eyes removed, which simply killed me. in my 25 years of practice, i have never removed as many eyes as i did yesterday."
many commentators pointed out that although the attack appeared to be targeting members of hezbollah in lebanon, it was actually an indiscriminate attack.
according to al jazeera, sarah leah whitson, director of the washington-based human rights organization democracy for the arab world now, said, "you shouldn't set traps on items that civilians might pick up and use." "that's why we're seeing such a devastating disaster in lebanon." whitson pointed out that the large number of casualties showed that these attacks were "essentially indiscriminate."
huwaida arraf, an american human rights lawyer, believes that israel's move violates international humanitarian law and the united nations protocol on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of mines, booby-traps and other devices.
in allaf's view, these attacks can only be considered legal if measures are taken to protect civilians and ensure that the explosions only hit legitimate military targets. however, the explosions in lebanon occurred without any warning and in public places, which "in fact meets the definition of state terrorism."
the peace and justice project, founded by former british labour party leader jeremy corbyn, issued a statement on the 18th, bluntly stating that israel’s attack on the 17th could be described as "state terrorism" and must be condemned by the international community. the organization also called for "major sanctions" against israel.
screenshot of the "peace and justice project" x account
liu zhongmin, professor at the institute of middle east studies of shanghai international studies university and vice president of the chinese society of middle east studies, told observer.com on the 19th that the explosion of communications equipment that hit hezbollah members in lebanon resulted in casualties, reflecting the new forms, new characteristics and new challenges of the new round of spillover of the palestinian-israeli conflict, which has led to a more blurred boundary between war and civilian life, especially a more direct deterrent effect of violence.
"to some extent, this does have the color of 'state terrorism' and also highlights the extreme nature of israel's military, intelligence and security agencies in combating dissidents by using any means possible," said liu zhongmin.
it is reported that the un security council will hold an emergency meeting on the afternoon of september 20 local time regarding the recent explosions of communication equipment in many places in lebanon. earlier, un secretary-general guterres expressed shock at the events in lebanon in a statement and called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation of the situation.
un high commissioner for human rights türk condemned the attack, saying the impact on civilians was unacceptable and the fear and terror it had caused was far-reaching.
“the targeting of thousands of people at the same time, both civilians and members of armed groups, without knowing at the time of the attack who owns the targeted device, its location and its surroundings, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law,” türk said, calling for a thorough investigation to hold accountable those who ordered and carried out the attacks.
sounding the alarm for the international supply chain
wang jin, associate professor at the institute of middle east studies at northwest university, told observer.com that in the past israel would implant bombs and other devices in the mobile phones of specific people to carry out its so-called "targeted elimination," but there was no precedent for such a large-scale explosion of communications equipment.
wang jin believes that this move was intended to disrupt hezbollah's organizational structure. "most of those who used pagers and walkie-talkies to communicate were key members of hezbollah at the middle and lower levels. therefore, this action has damaged hezbollah's organizational mobilization capabilities to a large extent and has had a significant negative impact on the organization in the short term."
the second is to create huge psychological panic among hezbollah militants. "they don't know when the next explosion will happen, or whether other objects around them will explode."
wang jin said that hezbollah will definitely launch a large-scale attack on israel if it believes that it was israel that did it. since hezbollah's structure was greatly affected by this incident, retaliatory measures may have to wait for a while, "but in any case, hezbollah's revenge will come sooner or later, it's just a matter of time. and israel will continue to launch attacks on hezbollah targets in lebanon."
wang jin mentioned that launching such attacks in other countries will not only further undermine the peace and stability of the regional and international situation, but will also have a huge impact on the normal order of international trade.
there are still different opinions on the details of how the explosives were placed in the communications equipment. but in the view of sources and analysts, israel has clearly penetrated the supply chain. a senior lebanese source said that israeli intelligence agencies had modified the equipment "at the production stage."
the pager that exploded was cited by the associated press on social media pictures
"this looks like it may be the largest physical supply chain attack in history," dmitri alperovitch, president of the silverado policy accelerator, a u.s. think tank, told the washington post.
it was reported that the pager that exploded on the 17th was a taiwanese brand "golden apollo". the company urgently cut off the matter on the 18th, saying that the product in question was produced and sold by a european company called bac, and that "golden apollo" only provided brand trademark authorization. the address of bac is in budapest, the capital of hungary.
however, the hungarian government also issued a statement on the 18th to clarify that the pager equipment used in the massive explosion in lebanon had never appeared in hungary, and bac was only a trading intermediary company without a manufacturing plant in hungary.
the latest details disclosed by the new york times on the 18th show that the israeli intelligence department took advantage of hezbollah's initiative to switch to pagers and established at least three shell companies long ago, disguised as international pager manufacturers to produce and sell large quantities of pagers mixed with explosives into lebanon. these pagers can be called "a modern trojan horse made in israel”。
as for the intercom that exploded on the 18th, its manufacturer was said to be a radio communication equipment company headquartered in japan. the latter responded that the intercom that exploded was suspected to be a counterfeit product and the company was investigating.
regardless of where the problem occurs, the series of events in lebanon this week have sounded the alarm for the security of the global supply chain.
"from pagers and walkie-talkies to reports of explosions in solar systems, all indicate that the front lines of future wars may extend indefinitely, and daily necessities cannot be trusted," commented axios news network.
the report believes that supply chain wars will continue in the future and will inevitably lead to new demands for supply chain security, as dependence on foreign components will weaken the country's military strength.
the australian broadcasting corporation (abc) said that putting aside geopolitical issues and the impact on the future of the middle east, this incident shows how national security can be compromised through seemingly mundane technology, and it highlights the huge risks posed by fragile supply chains.
on september 18, local time, communication equipment explosions occurred again in many places in lebanon. visual china
liu zhongmin also pointed out that israel’s penetration of the supply chain is very worrying, which has blurred the boundaries between military and economic and civilian affairs, conflict and peace, and has become a new gray area in the military and security fields in the era of technological change.
liu zhongmin believes that the explosion in lebanon will not pose a systemic threat to the supply chain in the middle east, but it will undoubtedly make the supply chain more vulnerable. "if it is used by terrorist and extremist organizations, the harm will be even greater."
in addition, liu zhongmin believes that in the future, israel may further use such attack methods against anti-israel forces such as iran, hamas, hezbollah in lebanon, and houthi armed forces in yemen, but will be highly cautious in terms of scope and scale.
'israel knows they can ignore the united states'
from the gaza strip, the west bank to lebanon, from "targeted elimination" to indiscriminate attacks, israel seems to have "endless" wars, which has also brought huge disasters to the people in the relevant regions.
the current round of the israeli-palestinian conflict is about to begin a year ago. according to relevant palestinian authorities, a series of military operations launched by israel have resulted in the deaths of more than 41,000 palestinians in the gaza strip and nearly 100,000 injured. more than 650 palestinians in the west bank have died at the hands of the israeli army or jewish settlers. according to al jazeera, nearly 600 people in lebanon have died in the israeli war.
"a dangerous escalation of war is taking place in the middle east, and the cause of this war is israel. not content with the genocidal attack on the gaza strip, netanyahu is determined to wage war across the entire region," said lindsey german, a british political activist with the stop the war coalition, who also called the recent bombings in lebanon "indiscriminate acts of state terrorism."
al jazeera columnist belen fernandez pointed out in her commentary that israel is "a country that specializes in intimidating specific arab civilians in the name of fighting terrorism."
"while the ostensible target of tuesday's attack was a hezbollah member armed with a pager, the attackers carried it out knowing full well that the consequences would be indiscriminate, resulting in massive civilian casualties. but that is the heart of terrorism, isn't it?"
women hold photos of the deceased at a funeral in southern beirut, lebanon, on september 18, 2024, local time. visual china
regarding israel's actions to escalate regional tensions again, its ally the united states once again stated that it was unaware of the incident. axios news network quoted three us officials on the 18th as saying that a few minutes before the pager explosion in lebanon, israeli defense minister galant called us defense secretary austin and said that israel would launch an operation in lebanon, but did not disclose specific details.
u.s. secretary of state antony blinken responded that the united states was not aware of or involved in the matter.
the american-arab anti-discrimination committee (adc) issued a statement on september 17, strongly condemning israel's "indiscriminate acts of terrorism" while also emphasizing that israel's desperate pursuit of war is precisely due to the connivance and unconditional support of the biden administration.
"israeli leaders know they can ignore u.s. advice without fear of consequence, knowing that american taxpayers will continue to provide weapons and financial support," the statement said.
wang jin believes that the united states may not be fully aware of israel's move, "or the united states has no way to fully influence and control israel's specific decision-making."
on september 18, local time, at the tenth emergency special session of the united nations general assembly to discuss the palestinian-israeli issue, the general assembly voted to pass a draft resolution on israel's advisory opinion on the occupied palestinian territories, requiring israel to end its illegal presence in the occupied palestinian territories within 12 months of the adoption of the resolution.
in the vote, 124 votes were in favor, 14 votes were against, including from the united states and israel, and 43 abstentions. china voted in favor.
china's permanent representative to the united nations, fu cong, said in a speech on september 17 that china urges israel to heed the strong call of the international community and immediately end its illegal occupation of palestinian territory. "ending the occupation is not a choice, but a legal obligation of israel," fu cong said.
