In World War II, guerrilla forces scattered large quantities of booby-trapped items that might be attractive to civilians. The idea was to kill large numbers of people indiscriminately. The Japanese made a tobacco pipe whose explosive charge was detonated by a spring-loaded fuse. The Italians produced a headset that exploded when plugged in. More than half a century later, a global treaty came into force that “prohibited in all circumstances the use of booby-traps or other devices in the form of apparently innocuous portable objects specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material.” Has anyone told Israel and its cheering supporters that, as Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group points out, it has signed the Protocol?

On Tuesday, pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least 12 people – including two children and four hospital workers – and injuring thousands. This situation is directly analogous to historical practices explicitly prohibited by current global arms treaties. US media say Israel is behind the attack, and it has the motive and means to attack its Iran-backed enemies. Israel’s leadership has a long history of conducting sophisticated long-distance operations ranging from cyberattacks to suicide drone strikes to remote-controlled weapons to assassinate Iranian scientists. On Wednesday, it was reported that Israel blew up thousands of radios belonging to Hezbollah members in Lebanon, killing nine people and injuring hundreds.

This week’s attacks were neither “surgical” nor a “precisely targeted anti-terror operation,” as Israel’s defenders claimed. Israel and Hezbollah are sworn enemies. In the current wave of fighting, tens of thousands of Israelis have been displaced from the Israeli-Lebanese border due to rocket and artillery attacks by the Shiite militant group.

But the pager bombs were clearly aimed at individual civilians – diplomats and politicians – who were not directly involved in the hostilities. The plan appeared to cause what legal experts would call “excessive incidental harm to civilians.” Both arguments have been used against Russia to claim that Moscow was committing war crimes in Ukraine. It’s hard to say why the same reasoning doesn’t apply to Israel – aside from the fact that it’s a Western ally.

Such disproportionate attacks, which appear illegal, are not only unprecedented but could become the norm. If that is the case, the door is open for other states to test the laws of war in deadly ways. The US should step in and restrain its friend, but Joe Biden shows no signs of stepping in to stop the bloodshed. The road to peace runs through Gaza, but Biden’s ceasefire plan – and the release of hostages – has not resonated with either Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Hamas.

The concern is that Israel’s actions could lead to a devastating all-out conflict that would draw the US into a regional struggle. The world is on the brink of chaos because Netanyahu’s hold on power and his associated insulation from corruption charges depend largely on his country being at war. None of this is possible without US complicity and support. Perhaps only after the presidential election will the US be able to say that the price for saving Netanyahu’s skin should not be paid on the streets of Lebanon or by Palestinians in the occupied territories. Until then, the rules-based international order will continue to be undermined by the very countries that created the system.