Gambling firm appears to trivialise Lebanon pager blasts in social media post

The gambling company that owns the William Hill , 888 and Mr Green brands has apologised after one of its social media accounts appeared to make light of the pager explosions in Lebanon that killed 12 people and injured thousands.

The explosions on Tuesday were followed by walkie-talkies exploding on Wednesday, killing another 20 people.

The post was shared on the Israeli Facebook page of London-listed Evoke plc, previously known as 888 Holdings, and included a crudely drawn image of what it described as a "beeper".

The caption above the picture read: "If that's what they've managed to do with beepers, imagine what it's like to work with technology. Wow. Luckily we are recruiting well."

The company said the post, which was later deleted, was "totally unacceptable" and that it was investigating.

The post included a link to a webpage advertising vacancies at Evoke, which was founded in the 1990s by a group of Israeli technology entrepreneurs.

The page currently lists 20 vacancies in Israel, and positions in New York, New Jersey, Gibraltar and Ceuta, an autonomous Spanish city on the north African coast.

The Facebook post appears to be referring to Tuesday's attack, when pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria. Israel has been blamed but has not confirmed it was behind the attack.

Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said: "It's just tasteless but it points to a broader issue. It plays into the dehumanisation that underpins these conflicts, where the death and injuries of others is not in any way respected. Until people start understanding how each other are suffering, it's going to be really hard to move forward."

A spokesperson for Evoke said: "The deleted post was totally unacceptable, and as soon as it was discovered it was immediately removed. We sincerely apologise for any offence caused. We are investigating internally to ensure this does not happen again."

Evoke is listed on the London Stock Exchange, where its shares are valued at £285m.