Although Israel mentioned that the pager attacks were aimed at Hezbollah members, which remains a violation of international law, the detonations were indiscriminate, meaning that they were indiscriminately detonated in homes and marketplaces in crowded spaces.
To the Associated Press,
I am writing to you on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East regarding the article titled: “Israel’s Netanyahu, at UN, calls accusations of genocide in Gaza ‘the biggest lie of the century.’”
The article reports on Netanhay’s visit to the UN General assembly, specifying that he is “known for using visual aids during his General Assembly speeches, at one point held up a pager while reminding the audience of the Sept. 17, 2024, attack in which Israel remotely detonated thousands of pagers that had been distributed to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.”
There is significant lack of context in the way the article frames the September 2024 pager attacks, resulting in an incomplete reporting for readers.
The sentence specifies that the pagers that were detonated on September 17, 2024 were distributed to Hezbollah but what is omitted is that the devices were also used by workers of a wide range of professions, including teachers, health workers and industrial workers.
Furthermore, although Israel mentioned that the pager attacks were aimed at Hezbollah members, which remains a violation of international law, the detonations were indiscriminate, meaning that they were indiscriminately detonated in homes and marketplaces in crowded spaces.
UN experts also condemned the attack, describing the “manipulation of thousands of electronic pagers and radios to explode simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria” as malicious and described them as “terrifying” violations of international law. All of this is important context that readers ought to be aware of. Otherwise, read as is, readers will not understand that the pagers blinded and injured civilians too.
We therefore kindly ask AP to add at least some of this context in the interest of accurate and complete journalism.
Regards,
Media Analyst
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East