The wave of remotely triggered explosions that hit pagers and walkie-talkies carried by Hezbollah members in mid-September was widely blamed on Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement. The explosions that took place in grocery stores, homes and in the streets killed at least 37 people, including two children, and injured around 3,000 people, according to Lebanese authorities, which deeply disturbed even the Lebanese who did not no affiliation with Hezbollah.
In addition to the fighters, the detonating devices hit workers in Hezbollah’s civilian institutions, including its health services and media.
Lebanese Labor Minister Moustafa Bayram and other officials said he visited Geneva and formally filed a complaint Tuesday against Israel with the International Labor Organization (ILO), an agency sprawling UN that brings together governments, businesses and workers.
“This method of war and conflict can pave the way for many individuals to evade international humanitarian law to adopt this method of warfare,” he told reporters at the UN compound in Geneva.
“This is a very dangerous precedent, even doomed. We are in a situation where ordinary objects – objects used in everyday life – are becoming dangerous and deadly.”
Moustafa Bayram, Lebanese Minister of Labor.
Speaking in Arabic, Mr. Bayram insisted that ILO conventions guarantee the safety of workers, who “were at their workplace and saw their pagers or walkie-talkies suddenly go off.” , according to an interpreter.
“I don’t know what the outcome (of the complaint) will be, but at least we have raised our voices to say and warn against this dangerous approach which damages human relations and leads to more conflicts,” he said. he argued.
An ILO spokeswoman said she was not immediately aware of the complaint or what relief might be possible through it.
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