Chris Knayzeh heard the 2020 Beirut port explosion’s rumbling aftershock as he was in a town with a view of the country’s capital. Ammonium nitrates that had been carelessly kept in hundreds of tons had detonated, killing and maiming thousands.
The image of the massive mushroom cloud that the explosion released was the last straw for the nation, which was already reeling from the economic catastrophe. He quit his work and purchased a one-way ticket out of Lebanon, just like many other Lebanese.
When word spread on Tuesday that hundreds of portable pagers had exploded across the nation, killing twelve, hurting thousands, and starting fires, Knayzeh was on a visitation in Lebanon. According to local news sources, Israel was attacking the Hezbollah group’s militant devices. Trapped in Beirut gridlock, Knayzeh began to fear that other motorists around him could potentially be carrying devices that would explode.
Hospitals were overrun with patients in a matter of minutes, painfully recalling the port explosion that occurred four years prior and resulted in over 200 deaths and over 6,000 injuries, leaving survivors with long-lasting psychological and mental scars.
Over the course of two days, around 3,000 people were hurt and at least 37 people died as a result of pager and walkie-talkie explosions. Although it has neither admitted nor disputed responsibility, Israel is commonly suspected of being behind the explosions.Four years after the Mediterranean port disaster, an investigation has been halted, leaving the Mediterranean port untouched and symbolizing a country in ruins. Political divisions and paralysis have left Lebanon without a president or functioning government for over two years, and poverty is on the rise. The country has been on the brink of all-out war with Israel for the past year, with Israel and Hezbollah trading fire and Israeli warplanes breaking the sound barrier over Beirut almost daily, terrorizing people in their homes and offices.
A full-blown war with Israel could be devastating for Lebanon, as the crisis-battered healthcare system had been preparing for the possibility of conflict with Israel even before hospitals became inundated with wounded from the latest explosions. Many Lebanese expatriates, who come to visit family and friends despite the tensions, cut their vacations short in chaotic airport scenes, fearing major escalation after the dual assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas commanders in Beirut and Tehran last month, blamed on Israel.
The level of confusion, insecurity, and anger is reaching new heights in Lebanon, with thousands of pagers exploding in people’s hands and pockets across the country this week. Parents kept their children away from schools and universities, fearing more exploding devices. Organizations including the Lebanese civil defense advised personnel to switch off their devices and remove all batteries until further notice. Lebanon’s civil aviation authorities have banned the transporting of pagers and walkie-talkies on all airplanes departing from Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport “until further notice.”
In the southern city of Tyre, city resident Hassan Hajo acknowledged feeling “a bit depressed” after the pager blasts, a major security breach for a secretive organization like Hezbollah. In his speech, Nasrallah vowed to retaliate against Israel for the attacks on devices, while Israel and Hezbollah traded heavy fire across the border. Israel stepped up warnings of a potential larger military operation targeting the group.
Another resident, Marwan Mahfouz, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been threatening Lebanon with war for the past year and he should just do it.
Knayzeh told The Associated Press, “The state of the nation is unbelievable.”
The port explosion, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, followed a period of financial collapse, historic economic collapse, and a sense of hopelessness following the failure of statewide protests against corruption to achieve their goals. It compounded years of crises that have upended the lives of people in this small country.
(AP)