Pager and walkie-talkie attacks should be investigated as war crimes

‘He took the pager in his hands, I was looking at it, and it said ERROR …. then the pager exploded’ – Witness

‘Detonating thousands of devices simultaneously without being able to determine their exact location or whose possession they were in at the time of the attack demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the right to life’ - Aya Majzoub

An international investigation must be established to hold to account the perpetrators of the devastating explosions that blew up pagers and walkie-talkies injuring more than 2,931 people in Lebanon and Syria and killing at least 37, including at least four civilians said Amnesty International ahead of a UN Security Council meeting being held today to discuss the attacks.

If Israel is confirmed to be behind the attacks then they took place in the context of an armed conflict and would be considered indiscriminate attacks according to international humanitarian law. Evidence indicates that those who planned and carried out these attacks could not verify who would be harmed when the devices exploded, or even if only fighters had been given them and is unlawful under international humanitarian law and should be investigated as war crimes.

Explosions took place in supermarkets, cars, residential streets and other busy public areas causing traumatic injuries, spreading widespread terror and panic across Lebanon and overwhelming a healthcare sector already impacted by an acute economic crisis.

Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:

“The mass explosions across Lebanon and Syria in recent days bear the hallmarks of a sinister dystopian nightmare.

“Using hidden explosive devices concealed within everyday telecommunications devices to wage deadly attacks on such a scale is unprecedented.

“Even if the attacks intended to target military objectives, detonating thousands of devices simultaneously without being able to determine their exact location or whose possession they were in at the time of the attack demonstrates a flagrant disregard for the right to life and for the laws of armed conflict.

“International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate attacks. It also prohibits the use of the type of booby-traps that appear to have been used in these attacks.

“The UN Security Council should take all the measures at its disposal to ensure protection of civilians and avoid more needless suffering. An international investigation must urgently be set up to establish the facts and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Eyewitness testimony

Amnesty spoke to eight witnesses, the Lebanese Minister of Health, two medical doctors, two psychologists and a security source. The organisation’s Crisis Evidence Lab analysed 19 photos and videos from the explosions and their aftermath.

On 17 September between 3:30pm and 4:30pm, hidden explosive devices within thousands of pagers across Lebanon exploded, killing at least 12 people, including a nine-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy and two medics, and injuring at least 2,323 people. The next day, just before 5pm similar explosive devices within scores of hand-held “walkie-talkies” exploded across Lebanon, killing at least 25 people and injuring at least 608.

A resident of the southern city of Sour (Tyre) told Amnesty she saw people running as blood flowed in the street; a man told her that pagers were exploding: “It was a state of panic in every sense of the word. I still cannot comprehend it. It’s as if we are watching an episode of ‘Black Mirror’ (a dystopian TV series) - these things aren’t supposed to happen.”

Another witness who was shopping in the southern Beirut suburb of Borj al-Barajne when she saw women and children screaming and running, described the scenes as apocalyptic. “People were running all around me, but my legs couldn’t move,” she said. She later saw young men lying on the ground and dozens of ambulances arriving.

Amnesty’s Evidence Lab analysed 12 videos showing the pagers exploding in crowded civilian areas, including in residential streets and grocery stores, as well as in people’s homes. A verified video of the skyline of Beirut shows large plums of smoke over at least 10 sites in residential areas.

Dr Firas Abiad, Lebanon’s Minister of Health, described the attacks as “the epitome of indiscriminate attacks” adding many caused “life-changing injuries”.

One witness confirmed to Amnesty media reports that stated the pagers beeped before detonating which caused some people to hold them up to their faces to check the screens. A mechanic in Sour described how a friend’s pager started beeping:

“He took it in his hands, I was looking at it, and it said ERROR. I turned around to get my cigarettes, and I was still right next to him, and then the pager exploded. He lost his hand and both his eyes."

Evidence available to Amnesty indicates the pagers were not only distributed to Hezbollah fighters but were also likely to have been distributed to employees of Hezbollah institutions that work in civilian capacities.

Dr Abiad told Amnesty that at least four healthcare workers suffered serious injuries in the attacks including one who died from their wounds.

Amnesty also spoke to the employee of a non-profit organisation who said that two staff members responsible for organising community outreach programmes in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in the south, owned these pagers and were injured when they exploded. 

Dr Georges Ghanem, Chief Medical Officer of the Lebanese American University Medical Center, said the hospital was flooded with injured patients requiring the same expertise:

“Everybody had injuries to their hands, lots of amputations, and eye problems that [cannot be fixed]…One of those who died was an 11-year-old boy. He had major brain injuries. He was with his father, who had the pager.”

Dr Salah Zeineddine, the Chief Medical Officer of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, also said all of the patients admitted had sustained multiple injuries including to the face, hands, lower abdomen and waist.

An ophthalmologist at Mount Lebanon University Hospital in Beirut told the media that 60%-70% of the patients he treated had to have at least one eye removed.

“[For] some of the patients, we had to remove both eyes. It kills me. In my past 25 years of practice, I've never removed as many eyes as I did yesterday [17 September],” he said.

Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence Lab analysed images of the destroyed pagers, and said they were consistent with AR-924 Gold Apollo Rugged pagers. A security source told Amnesty that Hezbollah had ordered around 5,000 of these pagers earlier this year.

It is likely that the attack was carried out using a small remotely controlled explosive device hidden in a modified batch of pagers. The blasts in the videos are consistent with the detonation of the small amount of explosives that could be contained within such small electronic devices.

Walkie-talkies explode

On 18 September just before 5pm, more electronic devices simultaneously detonated across the country, with reports of explosions in the southern suburbs of Beirut, cities and towns in southern Lebanon, and in the Bekaa.

Video verified by Amnesty’s Evidence Lab show large smoke plumes, indicating that the explosions resulting from those devices were bigger than those caused by the pagers setting entire residential apartments and shops on fire. The Lebanese Communications Ministry said the devices that exploded are IC-V82 handheld radios, or walkie-talkies, made by a Japanese firm, but that the model had been discontinued and the devices were not officially licensed. Images of the exploded devices reviewed by the Evidence Lab were consistent with IC-V82 walkie-talkies. A security source told Reuters that these handheld radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time as the pagers.

At least two explosions were heard as hundreds of people of all ages gathered for the funeral of four people - including a child and a medic - killed in the pager detonations the day before. Amnesty spoke to three witnesses there who described people running and screaming, one said that someone in the crowd was yelling:

“it exploded in his hand!”

The Lebanese Civil Defense said its personnel worked to extinguish fires that broke out in 60 homes and shops, 15 cars and dozens of motorcycles following the walkie-talkie explosions.

Traumatised by fear

These attacks have compounded the fear and trauma of a Lebanese population already facing the threat of an escalation of war with Israel.

Joseph el-Khoury, a consultant psychiatrist, said the attacks could have a long-lasting impact:

“These attacks terrorised the city…and are a continuation of the [Israeli jet] flyovers and sonic booms… Whoever did that did not care about the mental health of an entire population.”

One resident told Amnesty:

“I left my phone at home, I didn’t open a laptop, I became paranoid. Anything that connects me to the Internet, I don’t want to touch. I also don’t want a motorcycle to pass by me, I don’t want people next to me. Because if they have a device, I am gone with them.”

Israel’s reaction

Although the Israeli government has not officially commented on the attacks, on 18 September, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared that a “new era” of war with Lebanon is beginning and praised the “excellent achievements” of the Israeli security and intelligence, a statement which has been interpreted as an implicit acknowledgement of Israel’s role in the attacks.

The Lebanese authorities and US officials have also indicated they believe Israel orchestrated the attacks.

Amnesty has written to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting their responses to the allegations that Israel was responsible for the attacks.

International law

If Israel is found to be responsible, then these attacks took place in the context of an ongoing armed conflict and, as a result, their lawfulness must be assessed on the basis of international humanitarian law, as well as applicable international human rights law, which continues to apply in situations of armed conflict. This applies in particular to the right to life, as confirmed by the UN Human Rights Committee.

The reliance on routine tools of civilian daily life for the explosions, the impossibility of the perpetrators being able to know the identity of all those who received the devices, who would be using them and who would be near them - all of these factors indicate that the attacks were indiscriminate and therefore unlawful and should be investigated as war crimes.

International humanitarian law also prohibits the use of booby-traps or other devices which employ a device “in the form of apparently harmless portable objects which are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material”.

Catalogue of carnage

As of 9 September, Israeli attacks on south Lebanon and the Bekaa have killed at least 137 civilians, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health and the United Nations. Over 113,000 people have been displaced from south Lebanon due to the ongoing hostilities. According to the Israeli authorities, Hezbollah and other armed groups have fired projectiles at northern Israel and killed 14 civilians. Twelve children were killed on 27 July in an attack on Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights, Israel blamed Hezbollah, but Hezbollah has denied responsibility. Around 60,000 residents of northern Israel have been evacuated since 8 October 2023 - attacks which do not distinguish between civilians and military targets are indiscriminate. When such attacks kill or injure civilians they constitute war crimes.