UN chief warns against using civilian objects in military operations

NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned against the dangerous trend of using civilian objects in military operations at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York City on Wednesday.

The death toll in explosions of wireless communication devices across Lebanon on Wednesday rose to 14, with injuries up to 450, said the Lebanese Health Ministry.

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The explosions followed an attack a day ago, in which the Israeli military allegedly targeted pager batteries used by Hezbollah members, resulting in the deaths of 12 individuals, including two children, and approximately 2,800 injuries.

In the attacks, communicative devices for civilian use were exploited as the medium. At the press conference, when asked whether it could be a dangerous precedent for the future war, Guterres said “Indeed, I think it’s very important that there is an effective control of civilian objects, not to weaponize civilian objects. That should be a rule that everywhere in the world governments should be able to implement.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Hezbollah accused Israel of being “fully responsible for the criminal aggression that also targeted civilians,” threatening to retaliate. Israel has not yet commented on the explosions.

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Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas’ attack the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that Israel is at “the beginning of a new stage of the war” against Hezbollah.