to think that putting explosives in devices such as pagers and walkie talkies can lead to indiscriminate injuries and killings

[cakeorwine]

Let's get the first thing out of the way - it's not right to fire missiles and rockets at people - as that can cause indiscriminate injuries as well.

Putting explosives in devices such as pagers and walkie talkies - it sounds clever. Just send a signal and an explosion goes off potentially injuring and killing your opponent who has it. It will also disrupt communication methods.

But once you put the explosive in it, you lose control of where it goes and when it gets blown up. It could be a child has it. It could be on a plane - and might not be picked up by security.

You don't know where it ends up. Which means that it has the potential for unintended consequences.

What about any that didn't go off? Are there objects that have been booby trapped and are just potentially waiting to explode - and who knows where they are? The thing about booby traps is that you just don't know who will set them off.

Booby traps seem to be against the International Humanitarian Law if they can injure civillians.

Customary IHL - Rule 80. Booby-Traps (icrc.org)

You also won't get far posting support on here or anywhere in the UK

Quite - I rather doubt that many of those injured accidently stumbled across a hezbollah-issued pager that a forgetful terrorist left lying around, which they then decided to keep on their person. I have a sneaking suspicion that the vast majority of the people who were holding the pagers when they exploded were the very same people who were issued the pagers...

Not surprised Israel would use such an indiscriminate method. This is the government which is enacting a genocide. If any other country we’re doing this UN peacekeepers would have been sent in.

Meanwhile, just 120 miles away to the south-east Saudi Arabia wants to build a $1.5 trillion city. It will be a land flowing with green energy, water and will be 16 times the size of Greater London.

Where is the plan for Palestinians there? Or in Egypt - just 100 metres away from Gaza?

Nobody cares less about Palestinians more than other Muslim countries in the region. Where are the open doors for example?

Sir Geoffrey Nice KC was interviewed on channel 4 news this evening, he's the guy who made sure Slobodan Milosavic was prosecuted. He was very clear that Israel actions have been criminal both in this latest incident and in Gaza.

I regard Netanyahu in the same way I view Putin - a dangerous narcissist. At some point Israel must be held accountable.

Not convinced this isn’t an “own goal” like they wanted to be able to destroy device if got into the enemy hands but mistakenly coded to “destroy all” rather than destroy one lost device.

Seems too evil genius to actually have been a success. I think these Hezzbol clowns … are clowns.

if it was successful evil genius plan … its destroying military communications device …. If clowns decide to bring military comms home, or to supermarket …. Well that’s on them,

The pager wasn’t going to be out of their sight though. These are terrorists and this was seen as the safest means of communication.

To detonate, you had to press a button to stop the alarm.
It was a very small explosive, so highly unlikely to harm those around. It was designed to hurt the user, that they would have it in hand when pressing the button.

You can argue this method of fighting is wrong, but it’s unlikely to have caused any civilian deaths. We would have read about by now if there had.

If a rapist murderer enters my home tonight, intent on wiping out my family and taking my home, I will kill him first.

Tomorrow you can hold me accountable. I have no problem with that.

Oh for any sake. You know that the IDF use kids as human shields. To say that the use of these is to minimise casualties - so why are they dropping 2000lb bombs on civilians in tents in a supposedly ’safe area’? They don’t give a monkeys, this is a great pr coup so they can say ‘see what we can do? Don’t get on our wrong side’ as well as causing huge fear and disruption. Every Arab or Muslim is not a terrorist despite what the media would have you believe.

I understood that Hezbollah has been launching missiles at Israel since the 7th October massacre (and rapes) of Israelis by Hamas and have killed 12 children in amongst others that way. This was targeted to stop Hezbollah communications presumably, to try and stop them launching more missiles at Israel. It is awful that children have been killed on both sides. Awful. The whole thing is a tit for tat mess.

The stated aim of Hamas government and Hezzbollah and at least another 20 or so government / group is to get rid of Israel. And they are being bank rolled by Iran and now Russia to achieve this. They claim all of Israel as part of Palestine (but not the ‘Palestine’ land that is now Jordan - apparently that is not stolen land interestingly - it’s only the Israel / the Jews that have done that). If the indigenous people (the disputed land has been ‘owned’ by multiple different races/religions over time including Jews, Ottomans, Palestinians etc so the indigenous people have always been a mix of people) of an occupied country want to resist the takeover, or the starvation, destruction of hospitals/schools/infrastructure et etc, I’m not surprised. I’m just astonished that so many people can ignore the appalling suffering of so many - years of persecution and incessant attacks from all borders necessitating in the construction of an iron dome, the only country in the world that needs one such is the frequency of attacks. Multiple country in the world have been sanctioned for far less frequent or incessant attacks on their neighbours. More Civilians have been slaughtered / kidnapped in Israel including an attack on October 7th that only targeted civilians and had no military engagements than most terrorists attacks worldwide in the past five years, and don’t forget all those left orphaned, maimed and traumatised as they are still being held hostage. Remember the Israeli kids kidnapped from their homes? Women raped and murdered. People taken from their families? Teenagers at a music festival who all got shot? And if people come to steal your home, or your farm, your animals, destroy your business, and have a mission to eradicate you from “the river to the sea”, would you do nothing? And on and on…

Well said.

It’s shit but at least there was a clear effort to target members of a terrorist group. Actually an improvement in behaviour

I have not seen evidence of ‘many documented raped’ by Israeli soldiers. Can you please share the court reports ?

I would be extremely concerned about this of course.

I did see the evidence broadcast by Hamas of the Israeli girls and men who had been raped. Did you see that?

The asymmetry of a nation state vs a colonised population is stark though.

You say 12 children murdered by Hezbollah.

The UN estimates Israel murdered nearly 15000 Palestinian children in Gaza.

Fifteen. Thousand. Children. 🇮🇱💀

Do you know that Israel TELEPHONES the people in buildings and tells them to leave before they bomb them?
Do you know that Hamas and Hezbollah keep weapons and bombs in HOSPITALS AND SCHOOLS?

This was an extremely targeted attack. The ONLY attack in HISTORY which has limited civilian deaths to such an extent.

Do you know that Israel TELEPHONES the people in buildings and tells them to leave before they bomb them?
Do you know that Hamas and Hezbollah keep weapons and bombs in HOSPITALS AND SCHOOLS?

This was an extremely targeted attack. The ONLY attack in HISTORY which has limited civilian deaths to such an extent.

Oh give over. Leave to where?

And yet despite this oh so kind level of sweetness and caring they murdered 15000 kids in the last 11 months.

The fact the UN is telling Israel to stop suggests maybe they aren’t being all cuddly and thoughtful about their fighting (genocide)

Better than carpet bombing Gaza and killing thousands of children.
I just think it's a shame Israel couldn't/didn't target Hamas this way.

If it had been a UK intelligence agency attack on a terrorist organisation, such as the Taliban, you would be cheering the ingenuity of the sheer precision and efficacy. But apparently many people side with terrorists, these days.

How about if a supposedly "moral army" drops a bomb on your house tonight and kills your kids? Or drops a bomb on their school? Or one of your kids survives but that very moral army bombs the hospital your kid is in? Would you happily defend their right to do that to your family?

These are walkie talkies and pagers used by members of Hizbollah... a TERRORIST ORGANISATION. I've had to put that in capitals because it doesn't seem to register. I'm not sure how much more targeted you can be. The explosions weren't huge, they weren't walking suicide bombers.

The two children killed were a tragedy. Their fathers were terrorists, they put their children at risk.

The north of Israel has been on fire for nearly a year. You won't have read about that here on BBC. Thousands of displaced people. Constant INDISCRIMINATE rockets. Not targeting military targets, not targeting military personnel. Targeting civilian populations.

As usual, not responding to any comments. Don't need to discuss this with people who don't know all that much about these things.

Like I said, they must be held accountable.

Did you miss my quite separate points?