The Guardian view on Israel's booby-trap war: illegal and unacceptable | Editorial | The Guardian
By: the Guardian
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Editorial
Benjamin Netanyahu's hold on power depends on his nation being at war. The region is paying a high price
In the second world war, guerrilla forces scattered large quantities of booby-trapped objects likely to be attractive to civilians. The idea was to cause widescale and indiscriminate death. The Japanese manufactured a tobacco pipe with a charge detonated by a spring-loaded striker. The Italians produced a headset that blew up when it was plugged in. More than half a century later, a global treaty came into force which "prohibited in all circumstances to use booby-traps or other devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects that are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material". Has anyone told Israel and its jubilant supporters that, as Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group points out, it is a signatory to the protocol?
On Tuesday, pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least 12 people - including two children and four hospital workers - and wounding thousands more. This situation is directly analogous to the historical practices that current global arms treaties explicitly prohibit. US media say Israel was behind the attack, and the country has the motive and the means to target its Iran-backed enemies. Israel's leaders have a long history of carrying out sophisticated remote operations, ranging from cyber-attacks, suicide drone attacks and remote-controlled weapons to assassinate Iranian scientists. On Wednesday it was reported that Israel blew up thousands of two-way personal radios used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon, killing nine and wounding hundreds.
This week's attacks were not, as Israel's defenders claimed, "surgical" or a "precisely targeted anti-terrorist operation". Israel and Hezbollah are sworn enemies. The current round of fighting has seen tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from the Israel-Lebanon border because of the Shia militant group's rocket and artillery attacks.
However, the pager bombs were clearly intended to target individual civilians - diplomats and politicians - who were not directly participating in hostilities. The plan appeared to produce what lawyers might call "excessive incidental civilian harm". Both these arguments have been levelled at Russia to claim Moscow was committing war crimes in Ukraine. It's hard to say why the same reasoning is not applied to Israel - apart from that it is a western ally.
Such disproportionate attacks, which seem illegal, are not only unprecedented but may also become normalised. If that is the case, the door is opened for other states to lethally test the laws of war. The US should step in and restrain its friend, but Joe Biden shows no sign of intervening to stop the bloodshed. The road to peace runs through Gaza, but Mr Biden's ceasefire plan - and the release of hostages - has not found favour with either Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, or Hamas.
The worry is that Israel's actions lead to a disastrous all-out conflict that would pull the US into a regional fight. The world stands on the edge of chaos because Mr Netanyahu's continuing hold on power and consequent insulation from corruption charges depend largely on his nation being at war. None of this is possible without US complicity and assistance. Perhaps it is only after its presidential election that the US will be able to say that the price of saving Mr Netanyahu's skin should not be paid in the streets of Lebanon or by Palestinians in the occupied territories. Until then, the rules-based international order will continue to be undermined by the very countries that created the system.
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Why is Hezbollah described as a 'militant group' when, in fact, it is a terrorist group? The outrage and demands to enforce rules of civilized warfare (?) seem to depend upon artificially granting civilizing legitimacy to terror groups.
Bluntly stated, Israel did not attack a civil society. Israel attacked terrorists who are holding a society hostage.
I dont object to Israel attacking Hezbollah.
I do not like the booby trap tactic, which is too much like terrorism.
"All's fair in love and war" ring a bell? And always "If it hurts when you do that, don't do that"
A bell that tolls for one and all. Hemingway could be such a troll!
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." - Gandhi
I have no problem with targeted attacks on known terrorists. Even targeted bomb attacks on groups where known terrorists are with fellow terrorists in their homes or villas. I don't agree with the use of explosive devices that don't just harm the intended target but potentially hundreds or thousands of people surrounding the target. The terrorist could be at a restaurant, cafe or funeral with hundreds of innocent citizens, women and children around them. This is no different than terrorist groups strapping explosives onto one of their martyrs and sending them into a crowded market. It's indiscriminate killing in an attempt to intimidate aka terrorize their opponents.
Lol.
The enemy's C2 infrastructure is always an important target.
There is just so much wrong with this comment i just don't know where to start?
What do you think this was? they didn't blow up random pagers, they only blew up pagers of known terrorists.
So do you think more innocents are killed with a small pager explosion or with a hellfire missile from a drone strike?
Again it has to be because Israel did it, far more surrounding innocents will be killed in a Hellfire missile attack than a pager.
The Obama administration literally sent missiles into cafes to kill people while others were there eating. They Also doubled tapped drone strike for the specific purpose of killing first responders.
Again WTF? in isn't indiscriminate killing, they targeted terrorists. not some random civilians in a marketplace. to quote another poster here.[✘]
'"Benjamin Netanyahu's hold on power depends on his nation being at war. The region is paying a high price"
Nonsense. Netanyahu did not start this senseless war, and it would continue if he was replaced tomorrow. The Israeli people support his strategy. The Hezbollah terrorists are starting to pay the price, and so are the women and children and other innocents the cowards use as human shields.
"However, the pager bombs were clearly intended to target individual civilians - diplomats and politicians - who were not directly participating in hostilities."
Not true. The only ones with those pagers and walkie-talkies were exclusively Hezbollah. Sadly, collateral damage and deaths are bound to occur. That's what happens to terrorists when they start a war.
That's just ridiculous. I hope Hezbollah and Hamas are wiped out; they are violent terrorist groups who have committed atrocious crimes. How you "concluded" what you did is frankly insane as my comment does not defend them in any fucking way. What I did say is that I don't think it's necessary to wage this war against terror by killing thousands of innocent civilian, women and children. If we act the same way as the terrorists, then we become just as culpable.
"The death toll stands at 37, including children. Of some 3,000 people admitted to 90 hospitals across the country, around 300 remained in critical condition"
Doesn't seem very targeted to me.
Usually, we don't launch those into the middle of a funeral or a cafe but try to hit terror leaders in their cars or homes.
Just pure bullshit.
Sending explosives in the form of communication devices and then detonating them remotely not knowing who is going to be around them or where they will be when it goes off is not "targeted".
Yep.
Not according to the treaty that they signed.\
Yes, and who does that kind of thing? I know, because I personally toured the wrecked and bloodied reception room of the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel, within a couple of days after a Palestinian terrorist loaded with explosives walked in and blew up the peaceful men, women and children celebrating a multi-family Passover Seder. Thankfully the critically injured had immediately been rushed to Laniado Hospital and the dead bodies were removed by them. Has the author of the article witnessed such a thing? Have you? But there is a difference. The pagers and the walky-talkies were distributed to the terrorist Hamas militants because they were afraid to use phones that would target them, and the vast majority of victims were terrorist Hamas militants, not civilians, although the author did not really point that out, right?
Yes, terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah. They also kill women and children and rape captives which is unforgiveable. Does that mean the only way to defeat them is to do the same to them? Are you going to say it's okay to abduct their families and wives and rape them because that's what they have done to Israel? I'm not in any way excusing their behavior by condemning those who choose to adopt terrorist tactics. I'm simply saying that if we sink to their level and do the same things back to them in our rage and anger over our own people being attacked with such cowardly tactics, we not only prove we're no better than they are by resorting to such vile acts when backed into a corner, but we simply create more terrorists, more fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters with dead loved ones who are now overcome with grief and rage screaming at the sky for justice, willing to do just about anything, commit any crime or act of terror to avenge their families. A never-ending cycle of retribution, sorrow and death. As Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Punish those who are guilty but do our best to leave the innocent out of it, work hard at not creating more resentment and bitter anger, both sides have clearly had their fill. And if one truly believes that all of their opponents, civilians, women and children, are such a threat to your own survival that they need to be exterminated, then you've just rationalized genocide like many before you and are no better than Hitler or Pol Pot.
What are you talking about, Israel hasn’t used those Hamas and Hezbollah methods.
HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF SUCH THINGS!!! I have NEVER said any more than it is the terrorists themselves, and their supporters, that should be targeted. I have NEVER even INTIMATED that innocent people should be. Perhaps you feel differently, but IMO it is a necessity for Israel to eliminate the terrorists to gain security for Israel and its people and it is NOT Israel's fault that terrorists use, and are damned well KNOWN to use, civilians as human shields and they hide themselves among civilians and hide their control centres, weapons and ammunition in and under hospitals, schools, mosques and refugee centres, all things totally contrary to humanitarian laws and ethics and laws of war so aim your accusations at THEM, not Israel, OR ME!!!
No where did I accuse the article of being antisemitic, if John wanted that restriction extended to posts he should have made that restriction but he did not, so restore the comment!
I didn't accuse you of anything Buzz. I asked the question based on your response where you defended the walkie talkie and pager bombs by saying "the vast majority of victims were terrorist Hamas militants" when you don't actually know that for sure and neither do those who set the bombs off. We hope they were, but how can we know if the "37 dead, including children" and "3,000 people" injured with "300 in critical condition" are a majority, let alone a vast majority, Hamas (or more correctly Hezbollah) militants. And that is exactly the point, using these types of illegal terrorist tactics causes death and injury indiscriminately. I fully support Israel's right to defend itself from terrorists and their right to go on the offensive against their enemies, but I do not support these indiscriminate killing methods no matter who uses them, whether by enemies or allies.
"it is NOT Israel's fault that terrorists use, and are damned well KNOWN to use, civilians as human shields and they hide themselves among civilians"
So, should we not blame Hamas or Hezbollah for launching missile attacks into Israeli civilian areas? Could they not also claim that Israeli soldiers, their proclaimed enemies, are living and working among the civilian populations and thus "justify" their indiscriminate attacks that have killed so many Israeli civilians?
I'm not saying I have an answer. If it was easy to fix this ongoing war between Judaism and Islam that's been either raging or simmering below the surface for thousands of years in the middle east, it would have been done long ago. What I am saying is that as soon as you resort to using the terrorists' methods and start considering the killing of civilians, women and children as acceptable sacrifices, then you've already lost the war and lost any sort of claim to a righteous cause.
"so aim your accusations at THEM, not Israel, OR ME!!!"
I've consistently condemned "them". I've said over and over that I would love to see Hamas and Hezbollah wiped off the planet. I'm just not so bitter and cold hearted as to believe that treating the killing of women and children in that pursuit is completely justifiable. We should do our best, as should Israel, to avoid collateral damage to the innocent. I think one of the other issues that this war has exposed is that many believe there are no longer any "innocents", they just see the women and children of their enemies as "future terrorists" so they spend little time or effort trying to avoid hurting or killing them which, to me, is one of the saddest things to arise from this conflict. The walkie talkie/pager attacks seem to prove that.
Your "questions" were a softened form of accusation.
The communication devices were SPECIFICALLY distributed to the Iran proxy terrorist Hezbollah militia for a very important purpose. Since they were afraid to use mobile phones, they were a NECESSITY to maintain communication between their leaders and their footsoldiers. There were more necessary to keep attached to them or within immediate reach than their weapons, which might have been necessary only when their active service was required. The explosives were not massive, but very limited, aimed at harming only those who were within arm's reach. It is not the perpetrators' fault if those who possessed their necessary tools of war got into the hands of civilians. And anyway, I hold NO SYMPATHY WHATSOEVER for those who attack Israel, or terrorists and those who support them nor do I give a shit about anything that happens to the bleeding hearts who demonstrate and protest in support of them.
That truth will fall on some deaf ears here, as you can see.
If you want truth, I wouldn't ever go to certain members. Or rationality. Or normality. Or sanity.
Anti terrorism terrorism is terrorism is terrorism!
I’m not happy about it, but tactically, it is kind of genius.
I feel the same. Then there’s the inescapable fact that if Israel’s enemies would have been able to pull this off themselves, they would have and they also would have packed the maximum amount of explosives possible in these devices. Just glad it’s not happening here … yet.
The eyes of terrorists around the world opened to new possibilities. Wonderful.
Why would you think that it would take this, are they an unimaginative people?
Of course the guardian says that. Al jeezera probably does too.
Be careful, such a comment could be interpreted by someone who is biased as being biased.
The pager bombs were clearly intended to target individuals in the Hezbollah C2 network.
No problem with this for me, it's actually kinda genius
And only The Shadow REALLY knows who did it.
Israel has given a new meaning to End User Device (EUD).
george, i said no accusations of anti-semitism on this seed.
i tried to delete the comment where you did that and must have messed it up because it is still there. mention anti-semitism again about someones comment and i will delete your entire comments
If the attacks of Hezbollah on the Israeli people are not anti-Semitism, what is it?
thats not what george was talking about. he said a member's comment on this article was anti-semitic
Your restriction only pertains to the article not to pro Hamas comments.
This article is pretty clear John,
Israel is telling Hezbollah that you can wear civilian clothes, hid your weapons among civilians and use them as camouflage but you aren’t safe anywhere.
Setting off random explosions in random places is what terrorists do.
The IDF are not terrorists.... blatant false equivalency.
The pager and walky-talky explosions WERE NOT random, those items were specifically distributed to terrorist Hezbollah militants because they were afraid phones would target their whereabouts. They were needed to maintain cohesion among their militant ranks. It is unfortunate if some got into innocent civilian hands.
Where the explosion would go off and who would be in the close vicinity was random.
You made the equivalency, he just provided the definition.
I'm not saying the IDF are terrorists.
Random explosions is what terrorists do. When you are the good guys dont do what terrorists do.
The explosion could not possibly be so great because of the limited amount of explosives that could be inserted, and civilians were not normally as close to them as the actual owners of them, who were almost all terrorist militants. I saw on the news here a video of one sitting on a table exploding and everybody around it ran away when it did.
Sometimes fighting fire with fire is necessary, especially when those who are trying to kill you use every antihumanitarian trick in the book and provide no alternative, otherwise may as well be prepared to suffer their repeated attacks forever.
I watched the Hezbollah leader state that this was an "act of war". But Hezbollah starting to send missiles into Israeli towns immediately after Oct 7 wasn't?
Is Israel the first or only nation to cause casualties of war or be responsible for friendly fire?
Nietzsche...
The items were meant to distributed to the terrorist Hamas militants, OBVIOUSLY with the assumption that they were necessary for them to be kept closely to them otherwise what the hell was the purpose in distributing them - certainly NOT for the purpose of toys for children to play with. Blame the terrorists if they got into the hands of others.
LOL. I don't know if you mean that to be an insult or a compliment.
The purpose of distribution was to spread them into Hezbollah hands. The fact that they were everyday, ordinary items and absolutely nobody expected them to blow up is why a nine year old was carrying it to his father when it exploded.
Everyday, ordinary items exploding is what the treaty that Israel is signatory to says is contravened. This is an international agreement. Israel appears to be breaking more than it is making, from my point of view.
Neither. I was referencing the phrase "when fighting monsters"
Hezbollah members need to watch their tools of war more closely.
There was nothing random about this strike.
EVEN in America, some children have got their hands on guns and shot even killed other children or even themselves, so is it so unusual that some terrorists' kids get their hands on their fathers' tools of war?
They were not distributed to be "everyday, ordinary items". They were distributed to Hamas militants for the necessary purpose of maintaining communication between Hezbollah command and its soldiers because they were afraid to use mobile phones. They had to be kept close to the soldiers or there would be no cohesiveness of their army if they were not within arm's reach. It was not the perpetrators' fault that the soldiers were careless and stupid enough to part with them and let them get into the hands of anybody else. So may I ask why it is SO IMPORTANT to lay blame on people who are doing whatever they can to defend themselves and live free of continually being attacked by terrorists. Have you ever blamed the terrorists, or is there some reason why you are blaming the victims of terrorists?
It’s not terrorism when you’re targeting combatants, and that’s literally what happened.
The real unanswered question is how was Oct. 7 ever allowed to happen to a country who was already so on top of their enemy?
Complacency from Netanyahu down to the Kibbutzs surrounding Gazza.
So it's all Israel's fault?
The level of violence against civilians is significantly higher in Ukraine than Gaza. Yet there are few comments here accusing Russia of war crimes. Maybe it’s because Russia isn’t Jewish.
So, who do you think is committing the worst international war crimes, Putin or Netanyahu?
Putin of course.
I would say Putin, Hamas, and Hezbollah are committing war crimes, Israel is not.