State of shock, disbelief in Lebanon following Israeli-linked pager blasts

A day after a chain of explosive pager devices injured over 2,500 people and killed at least 12 across Lebanon, the country is in utter shock. Two of the dead were children, and four were medical personnel, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government point to Israel as the culprit behind the indiscriminate attack.

It was a sleepless night for many. The intelligence breach shown by the attack, and the scale of it, were unfathomable to a population grappling with a years-long economic crisis and an unwavering fear of a full-fledged war with Israel. Families across Lebanon spent the night in discussions about what happened, how it happened, and what happens to them next.

The state of nationwide panic was mirrored by sirens of ambulances screeching across all the country throughout Tuesday, and continued Wednesday morning albeit at a slower rate, as the injured were ushered to 100 hospitals, with the majority sustaining eye injuries. A massive turn-up of people queued at blood donation centres to show solidarity to the wounded, but also to a debilitated healthcare sector worn out by recurring crises.

They also showed up to hear what everyone else was thinking. 

"This is as much an attack on civilians as it is on the resistance cadre, because the result of this aggression goes beyond the zones of conflict, but rather targets people in their homes and behind the lines of military engagement," political analyst Ali Hammadi told The New Arab. 

Following the late August assassination of senior Hezbollah member Fouad Shukr by an Israeli attack, the beleaguered Lebanese population has been braced for an all out war. At least 120,000 Lebanese people were already internally displaced, and government entities as well as non-profits were gearing up for the escalation both sides vowed to ignite. 

Since then, the tension quietened down, despite ongoing trade of fire at the border between the two warring entities, and people grew more hopeful that the vows of escalation were overblown.

But this attack reignited people's fears.

"This is a qualitative shift in terms of the conflict and the scene, and what comes after it is certainly different from what preceded it. This is a violation of the rules of engagement, and therefore there will be a response that is proportionate to this aggression," he explained. "The Zionist enemy attacked a wide segment, in a vast geographical area that extended from southern Lebanon to It's far north, east and west, reaching Syria."

Hezbollah has already vowed to retaliate for the attack that has injured hundreds of its members and allies, including Iran's ambassador to Beirut.

"Politically and militarily, it is a transformation that requires a high-level response, which could happen at any time, perhaps today, tomorrow, or in a week, according to the circumstances of the battlefield," explained the analyst, noting that Hezbollah's approach had been to avoid a full scale military engagement but to offer support to Hamas' resistance against Israel by dividing their military power on multiple fronts. 

"But since the enemy carried out an aggression that is this dangerous, and broken red lines, the response needs to be equivalent to it," he concluded.

Next day in Beirut

Since early Wednesday morning, Beirut's streets seemed calmer than normal. According to a bank teller in the capital, it took her half the time to get to her work today. "People are in shock. This is an attack like no other, and everyone is trying to make sense of it," said the young woman, asking not to be named. "Perhaps the only upside is the unity it has created".

On social media and in real life conversations, people across the country's wide political spectrum have strongly condoned the attacks, and expressed concern for the security and future of their country. 

Shops that have opened in the capital's boulevards were largely vacant. 

Unlike in previous scares, several interviewees said they're no longer hoarding goods and essential items. One man, who asked not to be named, said, "We don't have the money for this any more. And we've been through so many of these scares that we've grown indifferent."

Ali Monzer, a resident of Al-Dahya which has a strong Hezbollah presence, said he hopes for an escalation to take place. "This needs to blow up once and for all. And we're aware that a war has one of two results: either victory or martyrdom. And we're happy with both," said the mobile phones' shop owner, who ruled out—from his own expertise—that the blasts were the result of lithium batteries overheating, as is speculated by many.

"This is a security and intelligence breach. There is no doubt about it," he said. 

This piece is published in collaboration with Egab.