First, on Sept. 17, there were exploding pagers. The next day, walkie-talkies detonated. Panic gripped Lebanon, particularly in areas where Hezbollah, whose members carried the devices, has a large presence. “We were confused at first,” said Joumana, visiting a Beirut hospital. “It sounded like gunfire. Then we saw cars, ambulances, and wounded people.”
The booby traps, widely attributed to Israeli sabotage, announced a dramatic turn in a conflict largely contained to artillery exchanges across a shared border. On Sept. 23 alone, waves of Israeli airstrikes killed 558 people, including 50 children, Lebanese officials say. It was the deadliest day for the country since its 1975–1990 civil war.
Hezbollah, both a militant group and a political party, came into being, with Iran’s help, after Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to…