‘Appalled’ – UN Official Says Israeli Cyber Attacks on Lebanon are ‘War Crimes’

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk. (Photo: EU2018BG Bulgarian Presidency, via Wikimedia Commons)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Volker Turk labeled Israel’s cyber attacks as “war crimes” stressing that all types of precautionary measures should be applied to safeguard the lives of civilians.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, strongly condemned on Friday the Israeli cyber-terror attack on September 17 and 18 across Lebanon that claimed the lives of 37 and injured 3,250 Lebanese civilians, labeling it as a “war crime”, Anadolu news agency reported.

Addressing a UN Security Council session he said he was “appalled” by these attacks, which “represent a new development in warfare, where communication tools become weapons.”

“This has unleashed widespread fear, panic and horror among people in Lebanon, already suffering in an increasingly volatile situation since October 2023 and crumbling under a severe and long-standing economic crisis,” Turk said in reference to the attacks.

The UN official stressed that this “cannot be the new normal.”

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Turk told the session that in any war there are “rules for each and every party,” emphasizing that all types of precautionary measures should be applied to safeguard the lives of civilians.

 “Attacks must remain proportional to the wider damage they inflict,” Turk stressed, adding that any attack should not take place unless the “attacker” is able to determine the impact of the attack on the civilian population.

The UN diplomat requested “an independent, thorough and transparent” probe into the “circumstances of these explosions.”

Turk concluded by connecting the unfolding events in Lebanon with the nearly one-year-old Israeli genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip and the military operations in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

“This tragic situation cannot be seen in isolation,” he stated.

According to Turk, it is “bound up with the war in Gaza, the spiraling violence in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory.”

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Cyber-Terror Attacks

According to the Lebanese news network Al-Mayadeen, several wireless communication devices exploded on Wednesday across various areas of Lebanon.

Reuters news agency reported, citing both a security source and an eyewitness, that the devices involved in Wednesday’s explosions were portable radios, unlike the pagers that were attacked the previous day.

Al-Mayadeen reported that the devices, apparently ICOM V82s, detonated, and “due to the devices containing highly flammable lithium batteries, the explosions were severe.”

“The explosions caused massive fires in cars, motorcycles, apartments, and stores all over Lebanon,” the report added.

A day earlier, thousands of Lebanese citizens were injured when their portable pager communication devices unexpectedly detonated.

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The explosions, which occurred across several areas including South Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley, killed at least 12 people, including two children.

The Lebanese Health Ministry stated on September 18 that between 2,750 and 2,800 wounded people arrived at hospitals within half an hour. 

The number of serious injuries reached about 300 while 460 surgeries have been performed so far, mostly on the eyes and face.

Border War

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, on October 7, the Lebanese movement Hezbollah has engaged directly, but relatively in a limited way in the war against the Israeli occupation.

In recent weeks, however, the intensity of the fighting has increased, leading to concerns that an all-out war between Hezbollah and the Israeli army is imminent. 

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Israel has occupied parts of Lebanon for decades and has only left the country in 2000, following stiff Lebanese resistance under Hezbollah’s leadership. 

Israel attempted to re-occupy Lebanon in 2006 but failed in what Lebanon considers a major victory against Israel. 

Israel, however, continues to occupy parts of Lebanon, namely the Sheeba Farms region.

Hezbollah has vowed to recover every inch of Lebanon that has been occupied by Israel contrary to international law.

(PC, Anadolu)