Photo: Israeli attack in Lebanon. Source: PBS. - Photo: 2024

Amnesty International Calls for Investigation into Deadly Israeli Attacks in Lebanon

By Rodney Reynolds

NEW YORK | 5 October 2024 (IDN) — An international investigation must be established to hold accountable, the 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, Amnesty International (AI) said in a statement released October 3.

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, said AI, a leading human rights organization.

Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa said: “The mass explosions across Lebanon and Syria in recent days bear the hallmarks of a sinister dystopian nightmare. Using hidden explosive devices concealed within everyday telecommunications devices to wage deadly attacks on such a scale is unprecedented”.

Even if the attacks intended to target military objectives, detonating thousands of devices simultaneously without being able to determine their exact location or whose possession they were in at the time of the attack demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the right to life and for the laws of armed conflict,” said Majzoub.

According to AI, explosions took place in supermarkets, cars, residential streets and other busy public areas causing traumatic injuries, spreading widespread terror and panic across Lebanon and overwhelming a healthcare sector already impacted by an acute economic crisis.

AI spoke to eight witnesses

Amnesty International spoke to eight witnesses, the Lebanese Minister of Health, two medical doctors, two psychologists and a security source. The organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab analyzed 19 photos and videos from the explosions and their aftermath. Amnesty International’s Secretariat has written to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting their responses to the allegations that Israel was responsible for the attacks.

Should Israel be determined to be responsible, then these attacks took place in the context of an ongoing armed conflict. As such, their lawfulness must be assessed on the basis of international humanitarian law, as well as applicable international human rights law, which continues to apply in situations of armed conflict. This applies in particular to the right to life, as confirmed by the UN Human Rights Committee.

AI further said the reliance on routine tools of civilian daily life for the explosions, the impossibility of the perpetrators to have known the identity of all those who received the devices, who would be using them and who would be near them – all of these factors indicate that the attacks were indiscriminate and therefore unlawful. As such, they should be investigated as war crimes.

Dr. Georges Ghanem, Chief Medical Officer of the Lebanese American University Medical Center, said the hospital was flooded with injured patients requiring the same expertise: “Everybody had injuries to their hands, lots of amputations, and eye problems that are non-salvageable…One of those who died was an 11-year-old boy. He had major brain injuries. He was with his father, who had the pager.”

Dr. Salah Zeineddine, the Chief Medical Officer of the American University of Beirut Hospital also said all the patients admitted had sustained multiple injuries including to the face, hands and lower abdomen and waistline injuries.

Oxfam working with humanitarian leadership

Meanwhile, Oxfam International said it is currently working with local humanitarian leadership on the ground following Israel’s invasion of Southern Lebanon.

Gheith Bittar, Executive Director for Oxfam partner SHIFT – Social Innovation Hub, said more displaced people are arriving by the day and he fears shelters may buckle under the strain.

“The shelters are not ready to host the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) we are taking on and 629 are already full. They are public schools that are not equipped to be shelters and we are facing problems.”

“For example, we don’t have hot water for showers. We will get to a point where we won’t be able to cope. Without funds, we cannot sustain our support to the shelters. The ground invasion will only increase the number of IDPs, and we have already seen an increase in the number of displaced people on a daily basis with the continuous bombardment. The situation will only get worse as winter approaches,” said Bittar.

“People are coming to us traumatized. Most of them have lost their houses and relatives. Some of them were scared because of the scale of bombardment as they were fleeing, and many others because of their fear of the unknown coming to a new city. People are suffering, they have many, many, issues to think about.”

Oxfam says without a ceasefire, the greenlight by Israel for a ground invasion in southern Lebanon will likely lead to a further escalation of the conflict and fighting, that will cause even more destruction of communities and inflame an already volatile region.

“The ground invasion and bombardment that includes Beirut and the southern suburbs will create a serious challenge for the humanitarian system in a few short days. People are being forced to flee with little to no notice, and often having to leave everything behind to shelters that are inadequate or sharing crowded homes with few essential supplies. None know when they can return.”

“Without a ceasefire the number of people desperately in need will only grow, as will their needs. The shelter system is set to collapse if there is no peace on the horizon,” said Oxfam’s Lebanon Country Director, Bachir Ayoub.

Oxfam is appealing for donations globally.

“The needs of people in Lebanon who’ve been injured, traumatized and displaced, in fear of what the future might hold for them, are already huge. No other solution other than a ceasefire can alleviate the crisis they are facing,” Ayoub said.

There must be an end to this violence. All parties must stop fighting. We need safe space to get people the aid they need,” he said. [IDN-InDepthNews]

Photo: Israeli attack in Lebanon. Source: PBS.

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