After the new explosions in Lebanon, psychosis is taking over the population

After the pagers, the walkie-talkies. Members of Hezbollah were victims on Wednesday, September 18, of the simultaneous explosion of walkie-talkies, notably in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the day after the explosions of pagers belonging to members of the Shiite militia. According to the latest report from the Ministry of Health, on Thursday, there were at least 37 dead and more than 3,500 injured in these two attacks.

When the noise of a second wave of explosions spread across Lebanon, concern and mistrust took hold of the population. “I’m very scared, it’s hard to try to reassure your children when you yourself are scaredexplains Hoda, a Beirut mother of two. We are afraid but we don’t know of what, we are afraid of everything.”

“Everything around you is scary. You go home, you’re scared. You go out, you’re scared. There’s no safety.”

Hoda, Beirut

to franceinfo

Mona runs a cafe near one of the capital’s hospitals that treats patients injured in the beeper and walkie-talkie attacks. She nervously smokes a hookah and looks at her phone with a puzzled expression. “I don’t dare to hold my phone in my hands anymore, before I put it next to me to sleep, but now I don’t dare anymore”says Mona.

“I bought a plane ticket. I want to leave. I’m not staying here anymore. Now I’m afraid of everything.”

Mona, a cafe manager in Beirut

to franceinfo

If the flights are maintained, Mona will leave for Turkey. Faced with the risk of escalation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asks French nationals not to travel to Lebanon. “It’s horrible, we don’t know what to do anymoreexplains Dana, 25, a Beirut resident who is at her wit’s end. Every day there is something new that takes us by surprise. It is truly total panic. My parents are afraid to use wifi, they are afraid that computers or mobile phones will explode. For two years, I have been thinking about leaving, but this is the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

The unprecedented modus operandi in its scale terrifies the Lebanese: thousands of simultaneous and deadly explosions, torn off hands, disfigured faces, unusual injuries, according to doctors. Elie lives in Batroun, in northern Lebanon, and he oscillates between anger and stupor: “It’s a crime, it’s not war. War is not like that. In war, there are rules. Yesterday, it was the pagers ; today, it’s walkie-talkies ; tomorrow, we don’t know. Maybe it will be phones, computers or household appliances. We couldn’t imagine that they wanted to do that. It’s like in a movie, it’s an incredible idea.”

The Lebanese accuse Israel of being behind these sophisticated attacks, but the Jewish state remains silent and has not commented on the subject. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to speak on Thursday afternoon. His speech is highly anticipated and fuels speculation about a possible Hezbollah response, against targets in Israel. Hassan Nasrallah, known for his calibrated speeches, will provide some clues. He will obviously return to this security fiasco, a snub that destabilized Hezbollah on the brink of an all-out war against Israel. But before any possible reprisals, for the moment in Lebanon, it is time for funerals and mourning.