Lebanon announced today, Wednesday, that it had submitted a complaint to the United Nations International Labor Organization regarding the bloody attacks that affected thousands of pager users (Pager) and wireless transmission throughout the country in September, which Beirut accuses Israel of committing.
The Minister of Labor in the Lebanese caretaker government, Mustafa Bayram, described the attack as an act of war against humanity, technology and work, saying that his country had filed a complaint with the International Labor Organization in Geneva.
“It is a very dangerous precedent,” Bayram said at an event organized by the United Nations Correspondents Association in the Swiss city.
This step comes after Israel escalated its air strikes on various Lebanese territories, especially on strongholds Hezbollah In southern Lebanon, the southern suburb of Beirut, and the Bekaa region in the east of the country since September 23, after nearly a year of cross-border firefights and the subsequent incursion of Israeli ground forces into southern Lebanon.
The escalation began with bloody attacks on September 17 and 18 that targeted thousands of pagers and radio communication devices used by Hezbollah, killing dozens and wounding thousands in various parts of Lebanon.
Israel did not officially claim responsibility for these attacks, but Bayram considered it universally accepted that Israel was behind them.
Bayram pointed out that within a few minutes, these attacks left more than 4,000 civilians dead, wounded, and maimed.
He pointed out that among the victims who were not killed, many had their fingers amputated, and some lost their sight completely.
He said that what happened was the transformation of ordinary devices used in daily life into “dangerous and deadly” tools, stressing the need not to leave these actions unchecked.
He pointed out that filing a complaint aims to prevent the recurrence of such operations in the future.
Other complaints
When asked why Lebanon chose to file a complaint with the International Labor Organization, Bayram pointed out that among those affected by these attacks were a large number of workers who he said were carrying out their work normally when the pagers and radios they were using at work suddenly exploded.
He pointed out that this contradicts the principles of decent work defended by the International Labor Organization, including “security and safety.”
He pointed out that the Lebanese authorities may also file additional complaints regarding pager attacks before other international bodies, including the World Trade Organization.
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He said that in general, the Lebanese government intends to file more than one complaint against Israel due to operations in Lebanon because “the number of crimes is enormous.”
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the Israeli war on Lebanon in October 2023, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, including at least 1,964 who have been killed since September 23, according to a census conducted by Agence France-Presse based on official figures.
The war also forced more than a million people in Lebanon to flee their homes.
Since September 23, Israel began a focused air campaign on Hezbollah strongholds in the southern suburb of Beirut and in southern and eastern Lebanon, and on September 30 it announced the start of limited ground incursions into the south of the country, where it launches attacks and engages in clashes with Hezbollah.
Israel says it wants to eliminate the party in the border areas, prevent the launching of rockets, and requires the withdrawal of its fighters to the north of the Litani River to allow the return of 60,000 displaced people from northern Israel.
