Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Demands Answers From US Over Lebanon Pager Blasts

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) believes what she describes as “Israel’s pager attack” in Lebanon “violates international humanitarian law” and wants answers about America’s involvement.
Pagers used by hundreds of Hezbollah members exploded near-simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people, including two young children, and wounding thousands more.
The next day a second wave of explosions, reportedly involving walkie-talkies used by the Iran-backed militant group, killed at least 20 people and wounded 450, The Associated Press reports.
Both attacks are believed to have been carried out by Israel, which is yet to make any official comment about them.
AOC, the representative for New York’s 14th congressional district who has been a frequent critic of Israel and America’s relationship with it, is one of several who have concerns about the attack.
She wrote on X: “Israel’s pager attack in Lebanon detonated thousands of handheld devices across of a slew of public spaces, seriously injuring and killing innocent civilians.
“This attack clearly and unequivocally violates international humanitarian law and undermines US efforts to prevent a wider conflict.
“Congress needs a full accounting of the attack, including an answer from the State Department as to whether any US assistance went into the development or deployment of this technology.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was quick to respond on Wednesday, saying the U.S. did not know about and was not involved in the pager attack.
He said during a news conference with Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty: “With regard to Lebanon, the United States did not know about nor was it involved in these incidents. We’re still gathering the information, gathering the facts.”
“We’ve been very clear and we remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza,” he added, “To see it spread to other fronts—it’s clearly not in the interest of anyone involved to see that happen.”
Blinken, who is currently in Cairo for a diplomatic event, went on: “We’re focused on getting this ceasefire over the finish line, that would also, I think, materially improve the prospects of actually defusing the situation in northern Israel and southern Lebanon.”
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Department of Defense and AOC, via email outside of working hours, for further comment.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk is another figure who spoke out against the attacks, calling them “shocking” and arguing their “impact on civilians unacceptable.”
He said in an official statement: “Simultaneous targeting of thousands of individuals, whether civilians or members of armed groups, without knowledge as to who was in possession of the targeted devices, their location and their surroundings at the time of the attack, violates international human rights law and, to the extent applicable, international humanitarian law.”
Other critics in the U.S. include Ilhan Omar, the representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district, who said: “Netanyahu’s reckless disregard for civilian lives in the pager attack in Lebanon is yet another example of why we need to cut off military aid.”
However, there are those that argue that the attacks were in line with international law—namely because they were carried out with devices used specifically by Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah, officially classed as a terrorist organization in the U.S, has been carrying out cross-border attacks on Israel, seen by many as a way to keep Israel under pressure on multiple fronts in order to help Gaza-based Hamas, also a U.S. designated terrorist group.
It is widely believed that the operation was executed with supply-chain interference, in a long-planned scheme that rigged the pagers with explosives before being imported into Lebanon.
“It is hard to imagine a better means of targeting Hezbollah operatives,” Natasha Hausdorff, from U.K. Lawyers for Israel told the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).
The senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, David May, told JNS: “These were Hezbollah pagers, not devices for the general public. Beyond that, very few civilians carry pagers in the year 2024, so claims that this operation was indiscriminate are disingenuous.
“Hiding explosives in Hezbollah’s personal devices is the best way to target terrorists who hide among civilians. This was a pinpoint operation compared to modern urban warfare.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders is preparing several resolutions to try to stop more than $20 billion in U.S. arms sales to Israel.
He said: “Much of the carnage in Gaza has been carried out with U.S.-provided military equipment. Why on earth would the U.S. approve another $20 billion arms sale to Israel? I will move to block these weapons. Not another nickel for Netanyahu’s illegal war.”
While the move is unlikely to result in any policy change in the Senate, it is yet another sign of how divisive the war in the Middle East is for the Democratic Party, something its presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, has to navigate in the run-up to the election on November 5.
Harris was one of the first Democrats to come out publicly in favor of a ceasefire in March, before Joe Biden did, and has often been seen as more critical of Israel, opposing an anti-boycott bill backed by Zionists when she was U.S. Senator, and calling for a two-state solution several times.
But she has also stressed that she stands by Israel’s “right to defend itself” and has previously shut down pro-Palestine protesters who interrupted her at a rally in Detroit, telling them: “Everybody’s voice matters but I’m speaking now.”
Although she has been more vocal about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Harris has aligned herself with many of Biden’s policies on the Middle East, including a refusal to adopt an arms embargo on Israel.
She was pushed on this most recently during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) on Tuesday, when she said: “We need to get this deal done … and that is my position, that is my policy.
“We are doing the work of putting the pressure on all parties involved to get the deal done.
“But let me be very clear also,” she added, “I support Israel’s ability to defend itself, and I support the need for Palestinians to have dignity, self-determination and security as we move forward and get a two-state deal done.”
Update 9/19/24, 8:55 a.m. ET: This article was updated to clarify in the first paragraph that AOC is blaming Israel for the attacks.