GENEVA (AP) — Human rights advocates are calling for an independent investigation into the deadly explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon and Syria, suggesting the blasts may have violated international law if the devices were fashioned as booby traps.
The explosions that have been widely blamed on Israel killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 3,000, including many members of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. Israel has not confirmed or denied involvement.
The United Nations human rights office and some advocacy groups have cried foul, arguing that the strikes were “indiscriminate” because it's nearly impossible to know who was holding the devices, or where they were, when they went off. But some academics insist the explosions were precisely focused because the devices had been distributed to Hezbollah members.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which aims to help protect civilians and other noncombatants in conflict and aims to stay neutral, said: “This was a unique operation, and it will take time to have all the facts to establish a legal opinion."
The committee declined to comment publicly about whether the operation violated international humanitarian law, which is difficult to enforce and sometimes flouted by countries.
International law has never addressed the targeting of communication devices that people carry on their bodies. The Geneva Conventions, which provide a rule book for the protection of civilians during conflict, were adopted 75 years ago, long before pagers, mobile phones and walkie-talkies were in widespread public use. The legal situation is further complicated by the fact that Hezbollah is an armed nonstate group acting inside Lebanon, a sovereign member of the U.N.
“There must be an independent, thorough and transparent investigation as to the circumstances of these mass explosions, and those who ordered and carried out such an attack must be held to account,” the U.N. human rights chief, Volker Türk, said in a statement.
The question of how to apply international rules to the attack seems to center mostly on whether a secret explosive embedded in a personal electronic device might be considered a booby trap. Israel has been blamed for targeted strikes and assassinations in the past, but a large strike using mobile communication devices is virtually unheard of.
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.”
Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said the rules were designed to protect civilians and avoid “the devastating scenes that continue to unfold across Lebanon today.” She too called for an impartial investigation.
The convention also sets rules for the use of land mines, remnants of cluster bombs and other explosives. It bars use of other “manually emplaced munitions,” such as improvised explosive devices that "are designed to kill or injure, and which are actuated manually, by remote control or automatically after a lapse of time.”
The pagers were used by members of Hezbollah, but there was no guarantee that the members would be holding the devices when they went off. Many of the casualties were among members of Hezbollah's extensive civilian operations mainly serving Lebanon’s Shiite community.
Laurie Blank, a professor at Emory Law School in Atlanta who specializes in international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict, said the law of war doesn’t prohibit use of booby traps outright, but places limits on them. She said she believed the attack was “most likely lawful under international law.”
She said booby traps can be used to target enemy forces in or near a military objective, including the communication systems used by Hezbollah fighters.
“That said, it’s not clear that this is a booby-trap scenario. For example, if the attack is attacking the pagers themselves, then it’s not an issue of booby-trapping,” Blank wrote in an email.
Experts said the pager explosions suggested a long-planned and carefully crafted operation, possibly carried out by infiltrating the supply chain and rigging the devices with explosives before they were delivered to Lebanon.
“There is no world in which the explosion of hundreds, if not thousands, of pagers is not an indiscriminate attack prohibited by international law,” Mai El-Sadany, who heads the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, a Washington-based think tank, wrote on X.
“The pager holders were scattered across civilian areas, from shopping malls to crowded streets and apartment buildings to hospitals, surrounded by women, children and men,” she told The Associated Press. “An attack like this cannot anticipate what innocent passerby is in the impact area or what carefree child picks up the pager when it beeps.”
British lawyer Geoffrey Nice, who prosecuted former Yugoslav and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, said in an interview: “It’s pretty obvious here it’s a war crime. And we should call it out for what it is."
But he noted criminal conduct on both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict, alluding to rocket strikes by Hamas militants on Israel and casualties caused by Israel's military operation in Gaza, where the Health Ministry says at least 41,000 people have been killed since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that triggered the latest war.
Amos Guiora, a professor at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, said the strikes were “justified in the context of self-defense,” but he acknowledged the risks of collateral damage against civilians.
“International law does not articulate a number as to what is legitimate or illegitimate collateral damage, it’s just to ‘minimize.’ The tragic reality of collateral damage is that innocent people will be harmed and killed," he said. “I do have a sense on this one that there was a conscious effort to minimize it — with the understanding it will be never perfect.”
“This particular attack strikes me — whoever did it — is as pinpointed as pinpointed can be," said Guiora, who spent 20 years in the Israeli military and advised its commanders in Gaza in the 1990s.
Israel has already faced heavy international criticism over its military response in Gaza and, more recently, in the West Bank since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.
Back in May, the top prosecutor at the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Hamas leaders behind the attacks, over their actions in the war.
Israel ignored an order from the U.N.’s top court to halt its military offensive in southern Gaza after South Africa accused Israel of genocide. Russia, too, has ignored the court’s call for it to end its invasion of Ukraine.
Hamas has also been investigated. Human Rights Watch released a report in July that concluded Hamas-led armed groups committed numerous war crimes during the attacks in Israel.
Hezbollah has been linked to numerous indiscriminate attacks on civilians over the years, including in Argentina, Bulgaria and, of course, Israel.
Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Danica Kirka and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
FILE - Police officers inspect a car inside of which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, on Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
FILE - A Civil Defense first-responder carries a wounded man whose handheld pager exploded at al-Zahraa hospital in Beirut, on Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
This video grab shows a walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo)
This video grab, shows a walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo)
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Adds: ELECTION 2024-HARRIS-EVANGELICALS; BOEING STRIKE; BIDEN-DIPLOMACY; LAWS OF WAR-EXPLODING DEVICES; EXPLODING PAGERS-THE TRAIL; ISRAEL-LEBANON-WHAT TO KNOW; MEDIA-NEW YORK-NUZZI; THREE MILE ISLAND-MICROSOFT; DIDDY-FEDERAL JAIL
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AP POLL-ELECTION 2024-ISSUES — A new poll finds neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump has a decisive edge with the public on the economy, turning an issue that was once a clear strength for Trump into the equivalent of a political jump ball. The new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds about 4 in 10 registered voters say Trump would do a better job handling the economy, while a similar number say that about Harris. By Josh Boak and Linley Sanders. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.
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TOP STORIES
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MIDEAST-TENSIONS — Israel says it has carried out an airstrike that killed a senior Hezbollah military official in a densely populated southern neighborhood of the Lebanese capital. It was the deadliest such attack on Beirut in years. By Bassem Mroue and Julia Frankel. SENT: 1,100 words, photos, audio. With LAWS OF WAR-EXPLODING DEVICES — Human rights advocates are calling for an independent investigation into the deadly explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon and Syria; EXPLODING PAGERS-THE TRAIL — The mother of the woman whose company was linked to thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria says her daughter has received threats and been advised by the Hungarian secret services not to talk to media; ISRAEL-LEBANON-WHAT TO KNOW (all sent)
ELECTION-2024-TRUMP-SHOOTING — Communication breakdowns with local law enforcement hampered the Secret Service’s performance ahead of a July assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, according to a new report that lays out a litany of missed opportunities to stop a gunman who opened fire from an unsecured roof. By Rebecca Santana, Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer. SENT: 970 words, photos. WITH: CONGRESS-SECRET SERVICE — Lawmakers are scrambling to ensure that the U.S. Secret Service has enough money and resources to keep the nation’s presidential candidates safe amid repeated threats of political violence. (sent).
ELECTION-2024 —For the first time since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris has given a speech focused squarely on abortion rights. She did so Friday in Georgia, where she highlighted the death of a woman who developed sepsis while waiting for a routine procedure. By Colleen Long, Amanda Seitz and Josh Boak. SENT: 1,000 words, photos, audio.
ELECTION 2024-VOTING BEGINS — In-person voting for the 2024 U.S. presidential election begins in three states: Virginia, South Dakota and Minnesota, the home state of Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. By Steve Karnowski. SENT: 1,060 words, photos, video.
SOUTH-KOREA-ADOPTION-FRAUD-THE-WEST — Western governments ignored widespread fraud in South Korean adoptions and sometimes pressured the country to keep the kids coming, an investigation led by The Associated Press has found. Many Korean children adopted overseas have realized their adoption paperwork was untrue, and their quest for accountability has spread to Western countries. The consequences are upending the global adoption industry. By Kim Tong-Hyung and Claire Galofaro. SENT: 4,070 words, photos. WITH: SOUTH-KOREA-ADOPTION-FRAUD-THE-WEST-TAKEAWAYS — Takeaways from AP’s story on the role of the West in widespread fraud with South Korean adoptions. SENT: 920 words, photos.
MED-ADDICTION-TREATMENT-METHADONE — The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say the addiction treatment changes could fall flat if state governments and methadone clinics fail to act. By Carla K. Johnson. SENT: 1,090 words, photos.
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MEDIA-NEW YORK-NUZZI — New York magazine’s star Washington correspondent, Olivia Nuzzi, is on leave after disclosing she had a personal relationship with a former reporting subject. SENT: 570 words, photos.
RUSSIA-SPACE-RECORD — Russia’s space agency says two Russians have set a record for the longest continuous stay on the International Space Station. SENT: 160 words, photos.
THREE MILE ISLAND-MICROSOFT — The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant says it plans to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement that calls for tech giant Microsoft to buy the power to supply its data centers. SENT: 850 words, photos.
BOEING STRIKE — Boeing has started rolling furloughs of nonunion employees as a week-old labor strike by 33,000 union machinists shows no signs of ending. SENT: 710 words, photos, video.
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ELECTION 2024-NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson will not appear at former President Donald Trump’s rally in the eastern part of his state after a CNN report about his alleged posts on a pornography website’s message board. That’s according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning. SENT: 930 words, photo.
ELECTION 2024-HARRIS-EVANGELICALS — Donald Trump has received strong support from white evangelical Protestants in his presidential bids. About 8 in 10 white evangelical voters supported him in 2020, according to AP VoteCast. But a small, diverse coalition of evangelicals is looking to pull their fellow believers away from Trump’s fold and into Kamala Harris’ corner. SENT: 1,440 words, photos, video.
ELECTION-2024-VANCE-CONSPIRACY-THEORIES — JD Vance once dismissed conspiracy theories as the product of “fringe lunatics” but he’s come to embrace them as his star rises in Republican politics. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
BIDEN-DIPLOMACY — President Joe Biden is opening a busy stretch tending to international allies anxious about where U.S. foreign policy may be headed when he leaves office in four months. SENT: 1,200 words, photos.
ELECTION-2024-GEORGIA-ELECTION-RULES — Georgia election officials are requiring poll workers to tally the number of ballots by hand. The State Election Board voted 3-2 to approve the new rule. SENT: 710 words, photos.
ELECTION 2024-CONGRESS-BORDER DISTRICTS — The politics of immigration look different from communities on the Southwest border. In Sunland Park, New Mexico, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress seeking reelection are feeling the urgency of finding solutions to the nation’s border crisis. SENT: 1,780 words, photos, video. An abridged version of 1,080 words is also available.
BIDEN-EV-BATTERIES — The Biden administration announced it is awarding $3 billion to U.S. companies to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and other materials used for electric vehicles. SENT: 610 words, photos.
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NATIONAL
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COURTHOUSE-SHOOTING-KENTUCKY — Residents of a tiny Appalachian town struggled to cope with a shooting involving two of its most prominent citizens: a judge who was gunned down in his courthouse chambers and a local sheriff charged with his murder. SENT: 810 words, photos, video.
REL-EDUCATION-NEW-CHRISTIAN-SCHOOLS — Some churches are launching new Christian schools on their campuses. State school voucher programs are not the driving reason, but they are making the start-up process easier, pastors and Christian education experts say. SENT: 1,370 words, photos. WITH: REL-EDUCATION-NEW-CHRISTIAN-SCHOOLS-TAKEAWAYS. (sent).
DIDDY-FEDERAL JAIL — The Bureau of Prisons has increased staffing at the federal jail in New York City where Sean “Diddy” Combs is incarcerated amid criticism of poor conditions and violence. SENT: 890 words, photos.
TITANIC-TOURIST SUB — A paid passenger on an expedition to the Titanic with the company that owned the Titan submersible testified before a U.S. Coast Guard investigatory panel that the mission he took part in was aborted due to an apparent mechanical failure. SENT: 990 words, photos, video, audio. WITH: TITANIC-TOURIST-SUB-THINGS-TO-KNOW. (sent).
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BRAZIL-WILDFIRE-COFFEE-CROPS — Brazilian coffee farmers are grappling with above-average temperatures as the country, the world’s largest coffee producer, faces its worst drought in more than seven decades. SENT: 610 words, photos, video.
MEXICO-MISSING-STUDENTS — The parents of 43 students of a radical teachers college who disappeared in Mexico are still searching for them 10 years later. The students were abducted from buses they had commandeered to drive to the capital for a protest on Sept. 26, 2014. Despite dozens of arrests, the parents still don’t know exactly what happened to their children. SENT: 1,170 words, photo. WITH: MEXICO-MISSING-STUDENTS-TIMELINE.
WEST-AFRICA-FLOODS — Floods have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands across Central and West Africa. The extreme weather has worsened existing humanitarian crises in countries which have been impacted the most: Chad, Nigeria, Mali and Niger. SENT: 980 words, photos, video.
BRITAIN-AL-FAYED-SEX-ABUSE — Lawyers in Britain representing dozens of alleged victims say that their clients are asserting that Mohamed Al Fayed — the former boss of Harrods — was a “monster” who raped and sexually abused young women throughout his time at the London department store. SENT: 900 words, photos.
GERMANY-TURKEY-DÖNER-KEBAB — The döner kebab is beloved in Berlin. But the snack’s status could be in jeopardy if the European Commission approves Turkey’s bid to regulate what can legally take the döner kebab name. SENT: 940 words, photos, video.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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ENT-TV-KELLY-CLARKSON -- Kelly Clarkson says she’s learned a thing or two about interviewing after being in the spotlight herself as a recording artist since 2002. So, she’s created a safe space for guests on season six of The Kelly Clarkson Show, which launches Monday. SENT: 890 words, photos.
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SPORTS
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BBO-PANDEMIC-DEBUTS — Nearly half of the 212 players who made their MLB debuts during the pandemic-altered 2020 season are still playing or have been in the big leagues this year. There have been 17 players from that class that became All-Stars, six for the first time this season. SENT: 780 words, photos. WITH: BBO-PANDEMIC-DEBUTS-GLANCE.
BBN-OHTANI'S-HISTORIC-SEASON — Shohei Ohtani keeps showing a flair for the dramatic during his historic first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Japanese superstar is now the only player in Major League history with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases. SENT: 580 words, photos.
CLIMATE-HEAT-FOOTBALL-DEATHS — The beginning of high school football season has seen a string of deaths. Players are most at risk in the late summer months of August and September of suffering heat-related illnesses due to searing temperatures and high humidity. Fifty-eight players have died from exertional heat stroke between 1992 and 2024. SENT: 2,000 words, photos. WITH: CLIMATE-HEAT-FOOTBALL-DEATHS-TAKEAWAYS.
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AP News Digest 3:05 a.m.
AP News Digest 3:05 a.m.
