Walkie-talkie explosions injure hundreds in Lebanon a day after pager attacks. Here's how the news unfolded
apnews.com
Walkie-talkies and other devices exploded suddenly Wednesday at the site of a funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before. Lebanon’s health ministry says at least nine people were killed and 300 were wounded.

Israel’s army chief says Israel has drawn up plans for additional action against Hezbollah and is ready to strike.

“We have many capabilities that we have not yet activated,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said after approving new operational plans at Israel’s Northern Command on Wednesday.

“Every time we work at a certain stage, the next two stages are ready to go forward strongly,” he says. “At each stage, the price for Hezbollah needs to be high.”

  • Okigotitnow@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Because they are at war. And yes, it’s an official war. Hezbollah declared war well prior to this and has been firing rockets into Israel. Hence, this is a retaliatory attack by Israel. It’s no different than bombing or firing missiles, it’s just far more targeted at Hezbollah members since it’s their electronics. Unfortunately innocent civilian casualties are always a part of war, but this type of attack actually minimizes them far more than just straight bombing would.

    The US State Department designated Hezballah as a foreign terrorist organization in October 1997. More than 60 other countries and organizations, including the EU, the Arab League, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, have also designated Hizballah—either in part or in its entirety—as a terrorist group.

    • acargitz@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      What a load of ghoulish warmongering. Oh it’s war? If Hezbollah had done this to Israelis, the world would be crying blood and vowing for Israel’s right to defend itself.

      • WhyFlip@lemmy.worldEnglish
        01·
        2 months ago

        It is war. And what Israel did was smart tactically. Also, collateral damage is part of every war. Even more so when the enemy entrenches itself among civilians.

        • acargitz@lemmy.caEnglish
          0·
          2 months ago

          Strange how this talk of “collateral” damage only applies to when Israelis kill civilians and not when, say, Hamas or Hezbollah do it.

          Using your own despicable and dehumanizing approach, October the 7th merely had 797 “collateral victims” for the 379 legitimate Israeli security forces targets. And after all, the 2:1 civilian to military casualties ratio is basically the same as the IDF’s own record in Gaza.

          Ah what to do, such is war…

          No.

          Fuck that barbaric way of devaluing the loss of human life.

          • WhyFlip@lemmy.worldEnglish
            01·
            2 months ago

            It applies both ways as far as I’m concerned. I never said otherwise.

        • Keeponstalin@lemmy.worldEnglish
          01·
          2 months ago

          I wouldn’t consider blatant terrorism ‘tactically smart.’ Yet, targeting civilians is par for the course for Israel

          The doctrine is named after the Dahiya suburb of Beirut, where the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah has its headquarters, which the Israeli military leveled during its assault on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 that killed nearly 1,000 civilians, about a third of them children, and caused enormous damage to the country’s civilian infrastructure, including power plants, sewage treatment plants, bridges, and port facilities.

          It was formulated by then-General Gadi Eisenkot when he was Chief of Northern Command. As he explained in 2008 referring to a future war on Lebanon: "What happened in the Dahiya quarter of Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which Israel is fired on… We will apply disproportionate force on it (village) and cause great damage and destruction there. From our standpoint, these are not civilian villages, they are military bases… This is not a recommendation. This is a plan. And it has been approved.” Eisenkot went on to become chief of the general staff of the Israeli military before retiring in 2019.

          While it became official Israeli military doctrine after Israel’s 2006 attack on Lebanon, Israel’s military has used disproportionate force and targeted Palestinian, Lebanese, and other civilians since Israel was established in 1948 based on the ethnic cleansing of indigenous Palestinians, including dozens of massacres to force them to flee for their lives.

            • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
              0·
              2 months ago

              We will apply disproportionate force on it (village) and cause great damage and destruction there. From our standpoint, these are not civilian villages, they are military bases… This is not a recommendation. This is a plan. And it has been approved.”

              Um… So you’re either full of shit or you need a vocabulary refresher. That literally says that they will destroy villages despite the absurdly disproportionate civilian death toll, because “from their standpoint” they’re not “civilian villages” (whatever the fuck THAT means).

              Genocide apologist scumbag.

              • WhyFlip@lemmy.worldEnglish
                01·
                2 months ago

                It’s fucking war. The term “genocide” is being broadly used as killing the enemy, the same group of people that wants to torture and slaughter every single Jew in existence.

                • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
                  01·
                  2 months ago

                  the same group of people that wants to torture and slaughter every single Jew in existence.

                  Damn, those must be some really cognitively advanced children.

                  You’re being disingenuous with the “it’s war” shit too, but you can go waste someone else’s time about that.