Press TV – Sept 18, 2024

As acts of terrorism continued in Lebanon for a second consecutive day, US officials have quietly and brazenly allowed Israel’s widespread targeting of communication devices used by Lebanese citizens, resulting in over 3,000 casualties.

While US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Tuesday denied any involvement in the attacks—ranging from pager to walkie-talkie explosions—he also refused to condemn what has been widely described as terrorist acts by the occupying regime in Tel Aviv.

Some US lawmakers, however, have gone further, openly supporting the bombings and praising the embattled Benjamin Netanyahu regime in Tel Aviv for targeting Lebanese civilians.

Congressman Brad Sherman, a Democratic representative for California’s 32nd congressional district, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday to express his approval of the attacks.

“Let’s be clear – in its strategic attack on #Hezbollah, #Israel employed innovative methods to conduct a precise military operation, maximizing the elimination of terrorists while minimizing civilian harm by targeting military communication devices,” Sherman tweeted.

Sherman claimed that the devices destroyed on Tuesday and Wednesday were used solely by Hezbollah members, suggesting that Israel was justified in its actions to “eliminate” them.

However, reports indicate that the majority of those killed or injured were civilians, including two children—8-year-old Bilal Kanj and 9-year-old Fatima Jaafar Abdullah.

Abdullah was killed on Tuesday in the initial wave of pager explosions, while Kanj succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday. Many have been critically injured with their limbs amputated.

Among the injured on Tuesday was Iran’s ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, who is reportedly in stable condition at a Beirut hospital.

Sherman demanded that the Iranian diplomat “explain” why he possessed a “Hezbollah military communication device,” disregarding the fact that a pager is a common communication tool used in the Arab country and not a weapon.

“In war, it’s impossible to fully prevent harm to civilians—especially when #Hezbollah operates in Beirut’s densest civilian areas. Some civilians may have been affected due to #Hezbollah’s use of human shields and recruiting soldiers as young as 18,” the Congressman tweeted.

Sherman’s open defense of Israeli terrorism sparked outrage on social media, where users highlighted his deep ties to the powerful Zionist lobby in Washington.

“A Democrat Congressman applauding the Zionist entity’s terrorist attack on a sovereign nation, which injured thousands across public areas in Lebanon,” wrote Yara, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement and a guest on the Popular Cradle podcast.

“A clear reminder that this is a US-supported genocide against Palestine and the Arab world.”

Sherman has been one of the biggest recipients of donations from Zionist lobbyists.

Stop Zionist Hate, a US-based non-partisan organization opposing Zionism and Zionist extremism, posted on X that Sherman is effectively a paid agent for the Israeli regime.

“Let’s be clear—Brad Sherman is paid to shill for Israel,” they wrote, sharing a figure of $771,883 that Sherman had reportedly received by February 5, 2024.

AIPAC Tracker, which monitors the influence of Israeli lobby groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on US politics, confirmed this in a post on X, noting that Sherman has received more than $777,000 from pro-Israel lobbyists.

Code Pink, a grassroots organization working to end US militarism abroad, questioned Sherman’s endorsement of the attacks in Lebanon.

“If there’s this much public support, we have to ask: Were US officials aware of these attacks in advance? Did they provide support,” the group wrote.

Many others on social media platforms linked the attacks to the United States, rejecting the US government’s official stance as expressed by spokespersons.

“The US State Dept says the US was not involved in the pager explosions in Lebanon and was unaware of the incident beforehand,” tweeted a user under the handle ‘Expat Vibes’.

“In unrelated news, the American University of Beirut Medical Center replaced their doctors’ and staff’s pagers two weeks ago,” they added ironically.

At least 12 people were killed on Tuesday and around 2,800 others were injured. On Wednesday, hundreds more have been reportedly injured with at least nine more killed.

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