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'An act of terrorism': Social media users react to Lebanon pager explosions

Lebanese nationals and users from across the regions took to social media to express anger over the attack which triggered chaos and fears of all-out war
A man watches a video on social media showing a wounded man after pager explosions hit locations around Lebanon, on 17 September 2024 (Joseph Eid/AFP)
By Maysa Mustafa and Firdevs Bulut
Published date: 17 September 2024 22:34 BST | Last update: 1 month 1 week ago

At least 12 people were killed and 2,750 wounded in Lebanon on Tuesday after pagers commonly used by Hezbollah - and medical personnel - exploded in unison, in an attack that the movement and Lebanese government blamed on Israel.

As Lebanon continues to pull itself together after the shock of what Hezbollah called its "biggest security breach" since escalations with Israel increased in October, Lebanese citizens and thousands around the globe have taken to social media to convey the ongoing chaos on the ground, as well as the increasingly materialising fears of an all-out war. 

In Lebanon, citizens explained what it was like during the attack.

Soon after the thousands of pagers exploded in unison, BBC journalist Nafiseh Kohnavard pointed out the heavy presence of ambulances all over Beirut. 

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Hospitals in Beirut quickly neared full capacity as thousands of wounded people were rushed into emergency rooms with various injuries. 

From inside a hospital, Lebanese doctor Danie El Hallak explained the harrowing state of those who were injured. 

Lebanon’s Health Minister Firas Abiad said most of the injuries were "either in the face, especially in the eyes, or in the hands, or in the abdomen", which Hallak echoed in her posts. 

Another social media user spoke about seeing a woman grieving her husband's potential loss of eyesight.  

Among the dead was a 10-year-old girl, who was killed in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley when the pager of her father, who is allegedly a Hezbollah member, exploded. Many have posted a photo of the girl on their X accounts and Instagram stories to pay their condolences. 

'A reckless indiscriminate attack'

Reactions from across the globe have been pouring in, condemning the attack.

Several social media users drew attention to the reckless and casual nature of the attack which targeted many people including civilians. A human rights lawyer on X cited the International Humanitarian Law Databases of the ICRC, saying that “there was no way to know if they would be in shopping markets, homes, or streets with busy traffic”, pointing to the indiscriminate nature of the attack.

Author Dyab Abou Jahjah pointed out that many of the pagers that exploded were not just owned by Hezbollah fighters, but civilians that are employed by Hezbollah's institutions.

Jahjah continued to say that "this implies that not only IDF soldiers but anyone associated with the Israeli state—civil servants, various employees, and politicians—could now become legitimate targets". 


Anthropologist and researcher Philip Proudfoot cited a section on indiscriminate attacks of the ICRC Geneva Conventions of 1949 and said that Israel is committing a war crime due to the indiscriminate nature of this attack with possible collateral damage. Many other users cited the same section of the convention, drawing attention to the fact that people had no means of knowing who was holding the explosive devices when they went off.

Others, including journalist Owen Jones, condemned the hypocrisy of reactions from the international community on X, suggesting that “if Hezbollah blew up the phones or pagers of Israeli reservists, inevitably killing and maiming children and bystanders, those cheering on Israel now would be denouncing an obscene act of terrorism.”

Many users, like academic Yousef Munayyer, have taken to their accounts to express the precedent that this attack may have established in inspiring cyber attacks in the future, saying that it may have opened "pandora's box". 

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