Many have denounced once-relevant, pro-Israel US actor and comedian Michael Rapaport for mocking an unprecedented attack involving exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.
The explosions over 17-18 September in Lebanon k*lled 37 people (including two children) and injured 3,250 (with 200 critically injured).
While Israel has not officially claimed responsibility for the attacks, unnamed Israeli officials told the Washington Post that the explosions ‘marked the culmination of a multi-year investment in penetrating Hezbollah’s communications, logistics and procurement structures.’
Western security sources allegedly told Reuters that Israel’s secretive military intelligence Unit 8200 was involved.
During an 18 September visit to the Ramat David Air Force base in northern Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant seemed to hint at Israel’s involvement, saying, ‘We are at the beginning of a new era in this war, and we need to adapt ourselves.’
According to the BBC, an unnamed British Army munitions expert said the pagers and walkie-talkies could have contained fake electronic components holding between 10 grams and 20 grams of military-grade high explosives.
UN human rights experts have condemned the attack in Lebanon, describing it as a ‘terrifying violation of international law.’
Legal scholar Lama Fakih, the Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, pointed out that the use of an explosive device whose exact location could not be known is ‘unlawfully indiscriminate’ and a ‘booby trap.’
Israel is a signatory to Article 7(2) of the Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, added to an international law on the use of conventional weapons in 1996.
The pager attack has sparked fears of a wider regional war in West Asia. Israel’s bombed southern Lebanon on 20 September, k*lling at least seven women and three children, as well as two senior Hezbollah officials. In response, Hezbollah retaliated the next day by launching missiles into northern Israel.
Video credit: @MichaelRapaport (X)
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