Pager attack showed ‘wanton disregard’ for civilian life, Martin says

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

The exploding pager attack in Lebanon and Syria showed a “wanton disregard” for the lives of civilians, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said.

Pagers used by militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously on Tuesday, killing at least nine people, including an eight-year-old girl, and wounding nearly 3,000.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack, in which small amounts of explosive concealed in the pagers were detonated.

Mr Martin said he wished to express deep concern over a “clear escalation” in Lebanon, describing the attack as a new “shocking front in an explosive Middle East situation”.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence said it was a “logical conclusion” that Israeli forces were behind the incident, noting “everything is pointing in the direction” that Israel had the capability to carry out the attacks.

Mr Martin said: “The nature of the attack illustrates a wanton disregard for the lives of people because these pagers with explosives put into them went off in public areas and supermarkets and around people going out about their daily lives.

“It meant that many innocent civilians – men, women and children – were caught up in this.”

Speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday, he added: “This is a new form of warfare, I think we have to be extremely worried and concerned about that and the international community needs to reflect on the nature of the attack.”

Asked if he considered it to be a breach of Geneva Convention rules on indiscriminate attacks, Mr Martin replied: “In my view, yes, absolutely.

“It cannot be condoned. It also, again, indicates that there are no boundaries on how this could escalate.”

Appealing for a de-escalation in the region, Mr Martin said: “I would appeal to the Israeli Government to desist and not to engage in war in Lebanon and likewise to Hezbollah to desist and not to do anything to further escalate the situation.”

He said the attack was a “new departure” from back-and-forth bombardments between Israel and Lebanon.

“That kind of warfare and the creation of that terror in the midst of communities, commercial areas and normal human behaviour is unacceptable.”

Also speaking before the Cabinet meeting, Taoiseach Simon Harris said the was an “extraordinarily worrying development”.

“What we have seen is significant explosions in civilian areas, including in a supermarket, and we’ve seen very distressing and upsetting scenes of civilians and children being caught up in the situation.

“What the Middle East needs to see is de-escalation, not escalation, and as I get ready to go to the United Nations General Assembly next week, that’s certainly the message that Ireland will be taking to that.

“We all must work to step back from the brink in terms of the Middle East. I think it’s extraordinarily concerning what we’ve seen.

“Obviously a country’s rights to defend itself, a country’s rights to address terrorism, is a legitimate right, but when explosives are being detonated, civilians being impacted, and take place in locations with many many civilians, it’s extraordinarily concerning.”

He added that he has previously voiced his concern about Israel’s “disproportionate” actions in Gaza.

“We need stability in the Middle East, we need all parties to de-escalate.”