The grave violation of just war doctrine — the hacking pagers of Hezbollah fighters and detonating them remotely — was appropriately condemned by His Beatitude, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi (statement quoted below).
In a particularly unconscionable and depraved act, the Israelis did what terrorists often do: a two-step act of terrorism, where first responders (or, in this case, mourners) are targeted in a second wave. This was highlighted by an OSV report:
A New York Times reporter attending one of the funerals of the victims wrote: “There was chaos everywhere as a loudspeaker called for people to remove the batteries from their phones.”
The BBC reported that some of the blasts erupted during funerals for some of the dozen people the health ministry reported to be killed when thousands of Hezbollah members’ pagers exploded in the first strike.
Hezbollah blamed Israel for the explosions and has vowed to avenge the deaths. Israel declined to comment on the claim.
Here is a report the National News Agency (of Lebanon), dated yesterday, very closely summarizing His Beatitude’s statement:
(NNA) — The Maronite Patriarchate’s Secretariat on Wednesday issued a statement expressing deep sorrow from Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros Rahi, the Maronite Patriarch.
Cardinal Rahi voiced his profound pain over the catastrophe affecting nearly 3,000 Lebanese citizens, some of whom have died and others who remain in critical condition following an Israeli attack involving the detonation of pager devices.
The Patriarch condemned the use of communication devices as tools for indiscriminate killing and denounced all forms of aggression against both Lebanese and Palestinian peoples, especially civilians.
Rahi prayed for the souls of the deceased, extended his condolences to their families, and wished for the speedy recovery of the wounded.
Additionally, Cardinal Rahi called for comprehensive and just peace for the region and the world.
My glance at an AI-generated translation of the Cardinal Patriarch’s statement tells me this NNA report is virtually word-for-word from that communique:
بيان استنكار وتعزية
صدر عن أمانة سرّ البطريركيّة المارونيّة البيان التالي:
يعبّر صاحب الغبطة عن ألمه بسبب الكارثة التي طالت ما يناهز الثلاثة آلاف مواطنًا لبنانيًّا، فارق بعضهم الحياة والبعض الآخر في حالةٍ حرجة جرّاء الإعتداء الإسرائيليّ بتفجير الأجهزة اللاسلكيّة “بيجر”. pic.twitter.com/MGxDSjTHq1— البطريركية المارونية (@bkerki) September 18, 2024
E. Michael Jones bluntly makes an excellent point:
These people are criminals. When is someone going to put them in jail? https://t.co/Fbd18jCzru
— E. Michael Jones (@EMichaelJones1) September 19, 2024
This can be added to the long list of Israeli war crimes. Kyrie eleison.
Our Lady of Palestine, pray for us!
Our Lady of the Cedars, pray for us!
