Warning that the recent deadly explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon marked a dangerous turning point, senior United Nations officials called for immediate de-escalation and ceasefire between all parties before a devastating war engulfs the entire Middle East.
Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, recalled that on the afternoon of 17 September, many communication devices, or “pagers” — primarily used by members of Hizbullah — exploded simultaneously across Lebanon. Similar explosions were also reported in Syria, while on the following day, a second wave of smaller-scale but more lethal explosions was reported throughout the same areas of Lebanon involving two-way handheld radios. Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health stated that 37 people were killed, including two children, and more than 3,400 people were injured, while the Lebanese Government has strongly denounced the attack, which it attributed to Israel.
She further noted that on 19 September, Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said that “Israel exceeded all limits, laws and red lines” and vowed “to exact a heavy price and a fair punishment” — while Iran, pointing out that its Ambassador to Lebanon was among those wounded, stated that it reserves its rights under international law to take measures deemed necessary to respond to “such a heinous crime and violation”.
Pointing to a high number of air strikes and overflights by Israeli aircraft, ongoing Israeli military operations and armed exchanges with Hamas, as well as the indiscriminate launching of rockets by Hamas and other armed groups towards population centres in Israel, she called for “an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all remaining hostages, and a massive scale-up of humanitarian aid to Gaza. There is risk of a conflagration that could dwarf even the devastation and suffering, she warned, underscoring that “there is still room for diplomacy, which must be used without delay.”
“These attacks represent a new development in warfare, where communication tools become weapons,” said Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Highlighting the fundamental distinction between civilian and military targets, he said that simultaneously targeting thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who is in possession of the targeted devices, violates international human rights law.
“This tragic situation cannot be seen in isolation,” he added, noting that it is bound up with the war in Gaza and Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory. Calling for an immediate ceasefire, continuous humanitarian access throughout the Strip, the unconditional release of all hostages in Gaza and the end of the arbitrary detention of thousands of Palestinians by Israel, he emphasized that an all-out war in the region would only lead to further devastation and urged Israel and Hizbullah to cease hostilities immediately.
In the ensuing debate, Abdallah Bou Habib, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of Lebanon, warned that “no one in this world is safe anymore in the aftermath” of the “unfathomable” electronic attacks carried out recently in Lebanon — injuring of thousands innocent civilians, including children and women. If the Council does not condemn “this terrorist attack” and name and condemn the perpetrator, its credibility is at stake, he stated. More so, he warned that “accepting what happened amounts to opening a Pandora box”, as States and extremist groups will follow suit and target civilians everywhere with lethal technologies.
The attacks “represent a serious unprecedented event in the history of wars”, he stressed. Citing his country’s restraint, he noted that non-implementation of Council resolutions against Israel since 1948 has emboldened it as a “rogue State” — potentially leading to a war that will “engulf the whole Middle East”. Calling on the Council to condemn Israel’s violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty, he underscored: “This is the moment of truth.”
Israel intended to kill at least 5000 civilians, but some devices were deactivated or not distributed, Iran’s delegate said, adding that this “clear act of terrorism” has caused widespread panic across Lebanon. The Council has remained silent in the face of ongoing aggression by Israel, including the attack on his country’s diplomatic mission in Syria in April 2024. “Now again this regime has crossed a red line,” he said, noting that Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon was one of the people injured in the attack.
Echoing that, Syria’s delegate said that States supporting Israel shoulder full responsibility for its acts of aggression. He also spoke for the Arab Group, adding that the brutality of Israel’s attack is nothing new. What is new, however, is the manipulation of modern-day technology devices to transform tools used for the well-being of people into ticking time-bombs.
Pushing back on that narrative, the representative of Israel, recalling that Lebanon’s Minister had not mentioned Hizbullah once in his speech, noted that the group has unleashed hundreds of rockets at Israeli civilians in the north. “This was not provoked. It was a calculated assault to show support for Hamas,” he stated, with 46 people murdered and more than 60,000 displaced.
He warned that if Hizbullah does not retreat from the border through diplomatic efforts, Israel will “use any means within our rights to defend our citizens”. Noting that the Lebanese Minister has “allowed a terrorist organization to create a State within your State, bringing ruin to your own people,” he affirmed that Israel will defend itself and will not “allow Hizbullah to use Lebanese territory as a launchpad for violence”. He called on the Council to designate Hizbullah and the Iran Revolutionary Guard as terrorist organizations.
Other Member States sparred over the causes and risks posed by the volatile situation, with Algeria’s delegate, who had requested the meeting, stating that Israel is pulling the region towards war, with the attacks amounting to war crimes and representing a blatant violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty as well as international law. “The situation in the Middle East has become untenable; too many parties are poised for war,” Guyana’s representative added, also observing that one of them has chosen “over and over again to take escalatory action at every opportunity”.
The Russian Federation’s representative called the remote manipulation of electronic devices “an exceedingly dangerous precedent”, also recalling that — for a number of years — his country has advanced the idea of establishing a specific international legal regime to govern the digital landscape, taking into account technical vulnerabilities, including anonymity, cross-border features and other hidden functions. “The international community is not powerless in the face of this threat,” he observed.
Calling the explosions “a gross violation of [Lebanon’s] sovereignty and security”, China’s delegate observed that “the attacks were so outrageously brutal and atrocious that they deserve nothing less than condemnation in the strongest terms”. He called on Israel to “forego its obsession with the use of military force”. Malta’s delegate called for an independent, transparent investigation into how the consumer electronic devices were turned into bombs, while the delegate for Switzerland stressed that the “voices of peace and reason must prevail in the interests of the people of the entire region”.
However, the representative of the United States recalled that for the past 11 months, Hizbullah has continued to bombard communities in northern Israel on a near daily basis. “No member of this Council facing a terrorist organization on its border would tolerate daily rocket attacks on its territory,” he pointed out. The Council has a responsibility to support diplomatic efforts to restore calm along the blue line, and to “press Iran to cease its destabilizing and dangerous use of Hizbullah to undermine regional security”.
“The risk of open war — with potentially tragic consequences — heightens with each passing day,” stressed France’s representative, echoing concerns expressed by many others. He therefore urged all parties to work towards the de-escalation called for by resolution 2749 (2024). The representative of the United Kingdom recalled that while Hizbullah attacked Israel unprovoked on 8 October 2023 and launched a “near-daily” barrage of rockets at that country since, Israel’s exercise of its right to defend its citizens must respect international humanitarian law.
Mozambique’s representative expressed concern over the attack’s “unprecedented” nature as well as concerns about future stability in the region. The representative of the Republic of Korea concurred, also pointing to the “alarming” potential transformation of consumer electronics into lethal weapons “that transcend our imaginations”. Echoing this stance, the representative of Slovenia, Council President for September, spoke in his national capacity to underline that States are “stepping in a dangerous new territory” and, as new technology is being used and developed, they must respect their existing legal obligations.
“Civilians must be protected at all times in accordance with international law,” said Japan’s representative, also stressing that “civilians always pay the highest price” for conflict between Israel and Hizbullah. The representative of Ecuador echoed that, condemning the indiscriminate use of explosives planted in communication devices in populated areas. “Without accountability,” underscored Sierra Leone’s representative, “the ongoing blatant violations of international law can only embolden the perpetrators and engender the spectre of impunity that seems to characterize the Middle East conflicts.”
https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15828.doc.htm
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