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U.S. says it supports exploding Lebanese pagers attack

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Belgium has designated the mass explosion of pagers across Lebanon and Syria as a terror attack.

“I strongly condemn the massive terror attack in Lebanon and Syria, which injured thousands of people. A brutal escalation of violence,” Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter posted on X on Wednesday.

“Silence is not an option. An international investigation is called for. The bloodshed must end,” she added.

The attack which killed twelve people including two young children and the son of a Lebanese parliamentarian, and wounded more around 2,800, two-hundred of them critically, is understood to have been carried out by Israel’s Mossad, however there has been no official acknowledgement.

“I can tell you that the U.S. was not involved in it, the U.S. was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, we’re gathering information,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters at a press briefing Wednesday.

Miller did however go on to say the U.S. supported the action to carry out Tuesday’s attacks.

“Going back to Lebanon, you said that you consider targeting terrorists as a legitimate act. Then Hezbollah is a terrorist organization by the U.S. Does that mean that you support such operation that happened today and that targeted Hezbollah?” he was asked at a news briefing on Tuesday.

“So again, when I gave that answer, I said I want to be very clear that I’m not answering with specific, with any specificity regarding this incident, because we’re continuing to gather facts on it,” Miller replied. “But in general, yes, of course we support operations to target Hezbollah militants, who continue to launch terrorist attacks against civilians. Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorism and a right to carry out legitimate attacks against terrorists, not civilians, but terrorists. So as a general proposition, yes, of course,” the U.S. State Department spokesman said.

The widespread, and seemingly indiscriminate attack was triggered simultaneously when hundreds or thousands of pagers, mostly across Lebanon, but also in Syria, exploded. If the instigator was not believed to have been Israel, it would have been uniformly described as a mass series of terrorist attacks.

There were very few countries however that condemned the attack. Russia was among the few that did. “We consider this incident to be another act of hybrid warfare against Lebanon, which has affected thousands of innocent people,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

“We strongly condemn the unprecedented attack on friendly Lebanon and its citizens, which is a gross violation of its sovereignty and a serious challenge to international law using unconventional weapons,” she added.

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani was among the injured in Tuesday’s attack. Iran’s Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Kanaani, strongly condemned the attack and said in a statement, his country considered Tuesday afternoon’s ‘terrorist act’ as an instance of mass killing.

“Today’s terrorist operation in Lebanon was carried out as a continuation of the Zionist regime’s combined operations and their mercenary agents. It contravenes all moral and human principles, international law, especially international humanitarian law, and warrants international criminal prosecution, trial, and punishment.”

“This combined terrorist act, which is, in fact, a form of mass killing, once again clearly proves that the Zionist regime, in addition to committing war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people, has placed regional and international peace and security in serious jeopardy,” the Iranian foreign ministry official said. “Accordingly, confronting the regime’s terrorist actions and the threats arising from it is an evident necessity, and the international community must act promptly to combat the impunity of the Zionist criminal officials.”

He said the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to provide any necessary assistance to the government and people of Lebanon.

The Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, said Tuesday she deplored the attack. In accordance with international humanitarian law, she reminded all concerned actors that civilians are not a target and must be protected at all times. “Even one civilian casualty is one too many,” she said.

“The developments today mark an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context,” the UN official said in a statement.

(File photo).

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