Defense Minister Israel Katz said the country is not interested in meddling in internal Lebanese politics as Israel has “learned our lessons.”

Summary

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that Israel has “defeated Hezbollah” following a series of operations, including the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The campaign included a September attack on Hezbollah communication devices, where thousands of pagers exploded in Beirut, killing 39 and injuring over 3,400.

Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu personally approved the pager attack despite internal opposition.

Israel now hopes an international coalition encourage Lebanon to normalize relations with Israel.

  • eightpix@lemmy.worldEnglish
    341·
    4 days ago

    An indiscriminate attack on an unsuspecting population using planted explosives and does not differentiate between civilians and enemy combatants isn’t a “terrorist attack.”

    What is it then? A “police action”? “Self-defense”?

    From AP

    A booby trap is defined as “any device designed or adapted to kill or injure, and which functions unexpectedly when a person disturbs or approaches an apparently harmless object,” according to Article 7 of a 1996 adaptation of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which Israel has adopted.

    The protocol prohibits booby traps “or other devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects which are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material.”

    Now, as far as a legal distinction, the jury is still out. But, morally, this is indefensible to the point of being state-sanctioned terrorism.

    • WhyFlip@lemmy.worldEnglish
      317·
      3 days ago

      It wasn’t indiscriminate. It very discriminately targeted members of Hezbollah. And a device used to coordinate terror attacks, in this case a pager, is no longer a harmless object.