AOC accuses Israel of violating international law after page attack targeting Hezbollah
Progressive “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez whined about the pager attack targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists — and accused Israel of “unequivocally” violating international law.
Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) demanded a “full accounting of the attack” Wednesday, including a probe into whether the US was involved, after a highly-coordinated operation detonated thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
The blasts killed at least 12 people, including two young children, and wounded nearly 3,000, according to Lebanese authorities. The majority of those hit were members or linked to members of Hezbollah.
“Israel’s pager attack in Lebanon detonated thousands of handheld devices across of a slew of public spaces, seriously injuring and killing innocent civilians,” the Queens and Bronx congresswoman seethed on X.
“This attack clearly and unequivocally violates international humanitarian law and undermines US efforts to prevent a wider conflict.”
Israel has so far declined to comment on the explosions, however, multiple US officials have privately told reporters that the Jewish State was responsible for the sophisticated act of sabotage.
Israeli spy agency Mossad is believed to have intercepted the shipment of pagers from Taiwan roughly five months ago and rigged them with pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), the Times of Israel reported.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted Tuesday that Washington was not involved.
“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,” Blinken said during a press conference in Egypt.
“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.”
Blinken trekked to Egypt amid the administration’s latest effort to lock down a ceasefire agreement in the Israel-Hamas war.
Hezbollah is designated a terrorist organization by the US government and is believed to have tens of thousands of rockets in its arsenal, raising concerns that the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict could spiral into a broader war if the group were to get involved.
Videos uploaded to social media of the attack show several incidents in which seemingly unaware terrorists had devices in their pockets blow up, with the victims crying in pain as bystanders ran away.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah was battered by another wave of beeper blasts, this time by walkie-talkies used by the terror group in an attack that killed 14 and injured over 450, per initial estimates.
Some of those explosions are believed to have been even more powerful than the ones that detonated Tuesday.
It’s not entirely clear how Hezbollah intends to respond to the explosions, which appear to have exposed the identities of scores of their operatives and allies.
One Hezbollah official anonymously told Reuters it was the “biggest security breach” since the terror group unleashed its flurry of sporadic attacks against Israel in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
Ocasio-Cortez has long been fiercely critical of Israel, having accused the US ally of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
She has faced pressure from her far-left flank to be even more forceful against Israel, having previously been hounded by anti-Israel hecklers.
Back in June, Ocasio-Cortez hosted a panel to discuss the rise of anti-Semitism and conferred with Jewish leaders.
Strife over the Israel-Hamas war has roiled the Democratic Party and fueled primary contests that led to fellow “Squad” Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) getting defeated in their reelection bids.
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