Article Posted on: September 20, 2024, 12:11h.
Last Updated on: September 20, 2024, 12:11h.
Online gambling group Evoke has issued an apology for a controversial social media post that seemed to downplay the suspected Israeli attacks on Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah earlier this week, as reported by The Guardian.
A total of thirty-seven people lost their lives and 3,000 sustained injuries in the attacks involving the detonation of pagers and walkie talkies containing small explosives, intended to disable the Iran-backed group.
Though Israel has not officially claimed responsibility, it is widely believed that the country’s intelligence services orchestrated the incident, potentially by infiltrating Hezbollah’s supply chain to booby trap the pagers.
This series of events led to an escalation in the conflict when Hezbollah, which has advocated for the destruction of Israel, launched 100 rockets into the country on Thursday night. In response, Israel conducted a targeted air raid on Beirut the following day.
Nearly a year of cross-border confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel, stemming from the Gaza conflict, has resulted in hundreds of casualties and displacement of tens of thousands on both sides of the border.
Inappropriate Post
Subsequently, a post on Evoke’s Israeli Facebook page that has since been deleted featured a drawing of a pager with a caption insinuating the company’s technological superiority following the recent events. The post included a link to job vacancies within the organization.
Formerly known as 888 Holdings, Evoke is headquartered and publicly traded in London, with additional offices in Tel Aviv. Established in the late 1990s by a group of Israeli tech entrepreneurs, the company boasts several prominent brands in the gaming and sports betting sectors, such as William Hill, 888casino, 888sport, 888poker, and Mr Green.
Internal Review
“The removal of the inappropriate post was prompt upon discovery,” stated a spokesperson for Evoke. “We extend our sincere apologies for any offense caused and have initiated an internal investigation to prevent future occurrences.”
Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, denounced the post as “tasteless” in a statement to The Guardian, emphasizing the dehumanizing aspect underlying such conflicts.
“Without a grasp of each other’s suffering, progress will be challenging,” remarked Doyle.