It’s common knowledge this was an act of terror
I really don’t think so. That’s just some people’s opinion. Hell, even “act of terror” is poorly-defined, as used.
and was intended to escalate the conflict to help keep Bibi and his cronies in power
That’s valid, though. There’s nothing just about the war, valid method in this one instance or no.
It really is an act of terror. This isn’t subjective. If you attack a population and spread terror among them than it’s an act of terror.
“It is also a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians, including to intimidate or deter them from supporting an adversary,” the experts warned. “A climate of fear now pervades everyday life in Lebanon,” they said.
So when the police arrest someone for stealing in order to deter other potential thieves, that’s an act of terror? I kinda thought you might go there, but it’s a uselessly vague dictionary definition. In practice it’s even more political than “surgical strike”.
Collective punishment is a war crime, but this was directed at personnel of a military adversary, not Lebanese people in general. These UN experts seem to think it was indiscriminate, and they’re way more qualified than me, but at the same time an airstrike on a specifically military target is generally considered okay, and has way higher potential for collateral damage.
Humanitarian law additionally prohibits the use of booby-traps disguised as apparently harmless portable objects where specifically designed and constructed with explosives
This one’s new to me. Yep, that fits to a tee. Never mind, it was illegal.
So when the police arrest someone for stealing in order to deter other potential thieves, that’s an act of terror?
Police arrest and imprison a thief because they are a thief and have done a crime. Deterrence is not the main intent and just a byproduct. This was an intentional escalation of an already volatile situation to promote fear in the Lebanese population and provoke a response from Hezbollah. These 2 situations are in no way related.
Collective punishment is a war crime, but this was directed at personnel of a military adversary, not Lebanese people in general.
Unless the pagers had some kind of biometrics capability capable of verifying that the person beside the pager was a Hezbollah member and no one else was around then it was not “directed at personnel of a military adversary”. You don’t play a shooter and say spray-and-pray is an effective strategy because over 80% of the bullets hit the target.
These UN experts seem to think it was indiscriminate, and they’re way more qualified than me
If experts are saying something then maybe you should listen?
but at the same time an airstrike on a specifically military target is generally considered okay, and has way higher potential for collateral damage.
An airstrike with guided missiles on some of the most advanced fighter jets in history has more potential for collateral damage than a bunch of improvised IED’s spread throughout a population? Really?
This one’s new to me. Yep, that fits to a tee. Never mind, it was illegal.
This is not quite as cut-and-dry. The prohibition is for civilian objects. The argument can be made that Israel rigging the communication devices of Hezbollah operatives specifically is not invalid just because communication devices are dual-use objects.
But regardless. It’s shitty, Israel’s motives are shitty, and all most of us half a world away can do is meme to keep our sanity.
Or lose it. Whatever.
