Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon

A new book by a New York Times journalist claims Israel’s spy agencies used Palantir’s AI surveillance tools during the 2024 pager and walkie‑talkie explosions in Lebanon, the strikes that UN experts said could be war crimes. And the comment section? Absolute meltdown. ComputerGuru dusted off the old tech slogan: when Google said “Do no evil,” “we used to joke about Palantir embracing the opposite ethos.” cramsession called it “one of the worst acts of terrorism ever recorded,” warning that turning consumer gadgets into bombs makes the world feel less safe for everyone. Others posted gut‑punch stories, like this NYT link about a woman picking up a beeping pager before it detonated.

Then came the hot legal take: impossiblefork argued the attack might be lawful under rules of war—cue instant pile‑on from readers waving the UN statement and Leon Panetta’s quote calling it “a form of terrorism.” Meanwhile, myth_drannon praised it as a “brilliant” operation targeting top Hezbollah ranks, sparking furious replies accusing them of cheerleading civilian harm and downplaying Palantir’s role. The meme factory kicked in fast: “Grim Beeper” and “Do Know Evil” trended, plus jokes about people side‑eyeing every pager, walkie‑talkie, and smart toaster. Bottom line: the tech‑war marriage has commenters asking whether Silicon Valley is just another combatant—and whether our everyday devices are now fair game.