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Washington, DC – The explosions of wireless communication devices across Lebanon this week in a series of attacks widely believed to have been carried out by Israel likely constitute a breach of the laws of war, experts say.

That includes the possible violation of prohibitions on indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, as the blasts have killed dozens of people and injured thousands more.

“You’re not supposed to booby-trap objects that civilians are likely to pick up and use, or objects generally associated with normal civilian use,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, a lawyer and director of the US-based rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).

“And this is exactly why we’ve seen the devastation that we’re seeing in Lebanon,” she told Al Jazeera. “Anybody could pick up one of these pagers. We also have no idea who had the pagers, or whether or not they’re legitimate military targets.”

Pagers, walkie-talkies, cell phones and other devices that were apparently associated with members of the Lebanese group Hezbollah exploded in two waves of attacks across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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