The operation, which targeted pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, resulted in the deaths of at least 32 people, including two children, and injured 3,250 others. Of those injured, around 200 are in critical condition. Panetta joined a growing chorus of voices condemning the attack and expressing concern about the dangerous precedent it sets. Speaking on CBS News’ Sunday Morning with anchor Lee Cowan, Panetta stated, "I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism.” Panetta, who served as CIA Director from February 2009 to June 2011 and later as Secretary of Defense until February 2013, elaborated on the risks posed by such tactics.In a recent interview, former CIA Director Leon Panetta described Israel’s use of pager explosions in Lebanon as an act of “terrorism.”
PANETTA: The ability to be able to place an explosive in technology that is very prevalent these days. And turn it into a war of terror. Really, a war of terror. This is something new. COWAN: Is it terrorism? PANETTA: I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism…This is going right into the supply chain, right into the supply chain. And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question, what the hell is next? COWAN: It sounds like you’re genuinely worried. PANETTA: I am. I am. This is a tactic. That has repercussions. And we really don’t know what those repercussions are going to be…The forces of war are largely in control right now. What’s going on? COWAN: Do you think there should be condemnation for it? Should other nations step in, including us? PANETTA: I think it’s going to be very important for the nations of the world to have a serious discussion. About whether or not this is an area that everybody has to focus on, because if they don’t try to deal with it now. Mark my word. It is the battlefield of the future. Former CIA Director Leon Panetta calls Israel's explosive pager operation "terrorism" in an interview with CBS today:
"I don't think there's any question it's a form of terrorism."
"When you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question: what the… pic.twitter.com/18coO8lTQq
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) September 22, 2024 While Israel’s defenders argue that the devices were only intended to target Hezbollah fighters, human rights advocates and the United Nations condemned the explosions as “indiscriminate.” The nature of the attack made it impossible to know who was holding the devices at the time of detonation, raising significant concerns about civilian casualties. “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, wrote on X. “When those pagers were set off, there was no way to know if they would be in shopping markets, homes, or streets with busy traffic.”Debate Over the Attack’s Justification
There is no world in which the explosion of hundreds, if not thousands, of pagers is not an indiscriminate attack prohibited by international law.
When those pagers were set off, there was no way to know if they would be in shopping markets, homes, or streets with busy traffic. pic.twitter.com/g5shceuosa
— Mai El-Sadany (@maitelsadany) September 17, 2024 “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,” El-Sadany 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.” UN experts echoed these concerns, stating that the attack could constitute a war crime under international law. “It is a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians,” they said, adding that the operation has created a "climate of fear" across Lebanon.
Michael Walzer, co-editor of The Jewish Political Tradition and author of Just and Unjust Wars, wrote in a recent op-ed the explosions were “very likely war crimes — terrorist attacks by a state that has consistently condemned terrorist attacks on its own citizens.” While Hamas is often criticized for embedding fighters among civilians in Gaza, Walzer argues, “No similar claim of minimizing risk to civilians can be made for the decision to explode the devices. They were not distributed by Hezbollah in order to put its people at risk.” He added, “The plot was Israel’s, and the plotters had to know that at least some of the people hurt would be innocent men, women and children.”War Crimes Allegations
