Lebanon's psyche under siege after a week from hell

Early fall had arrived unceremoniously in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Qada al Matn, east of Beirut. Tania, 22, was very much looking forward to welcoming relatives to her city this month.

The autumn season is a peak time of the year for Lebanon, and despite constant news about an impending war with Israel, many were still making plans and embracing the comfort of familiar activities.

Before life as they knew it descended into an apocalyptic nightmare.

Last week, thousands of walkie-talkies and pagers used by members of Hezbollah, humanitarian workers and others exploded across southern Lebanon and in some of the most densely populated suburbs of Beirut.

The wave of explosions resulted in more than 30 dead — including four medical staff, a nine-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy —and at least 4,000 civilians maimed - including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Chief injuries were most profound in the face, hands, waist, and abdomen of all those afflicted.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced Wednesday that the conflict with Iran's proxy groups had "entered a new phase," signalling a shift in focus after 11 months of intense warfare in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Since the onset of the Oct. 7 war on Gaza, heavy exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel have intensified along the Lebanese border.

On Monday, things grew even more dire for Lebanon, which saw its deadliest day since the 1990 civil war. The Israeli military announced that it hit some 800 targets, which included Hezbollah weapon sites.

But the strikes on villages and towns across South Lebanon also killed at least 356 people and injured more than 124,600, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Many residents are rejecting the term "air strike," insisting on referring to the attacks as massacres. Images from the ground depict a mass exodus of citizens scrambling to flee from the South and head towards the capitol, Beirut.

Hezbollah sees themselves defending their sovereignty and standing in full solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas against Israel's relentless bombardment.

And today, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism posted a thread on X, claiming that Lebanon could not be defined as a sovereign state - essentially self-authorising the Israeli regime's annexation or creation of an entirely separate buffer zone within the Levant territory.

Israel insists it is waging a battle to combat terrorism, but its recent unhinged actions in Lebanon have drawn grave concern from the United Nations and other international humanitarian agencies and officials who worry the region is on the brink of all-out war and fear that unconditional allegiance to Israel will only spell more disaster for humanity.

Israel's psychological warfare

Before Monday's attack, Lebanon received more than 80,000 call attempts from the Israeli military, ordering civilians to relocate from their homes - a move that sent a collective shiver throughout the country.

Acknowledging that psychological warfare is not an accidental symptom of Israel's combat policies but a deliberate strategy, Tania told TRT World that "determination and resilience, despite minds plagued with chaos and uncertainty, (are) just the Lebanese way."

This sentiment seems to have grown only stronger amid the country's long history of political strife and violence, rooted in trauma-inducing events like the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war and a number of border clashes with Israel.

"You never know if the plane is a normal passenger flight or if there will be a sudden attack. Anything as little as a generator turning to a car backfiring is triggering. It makes me panic," Tania said, referring to the over three MK planes she heard loitering overhead on Tuesday just before the pager attacks.

"The mental games that have been played among the citizens of Lebanon to this day are absurd. It keeps everyone on edge. For now, no one is at peace. And if anything unites the people of Lebanon, at this very moment, it is the feeling of being unsure and hopeless," she added.

The pager massacre

Following last week's shocking pager detonations were the much more devastating explosions of walkie-talkies, which were bigger and packed with even more explosives.

Both attacks suggest that Israeli intelligence has devised a new form of psychological warfare and cyber espionage to achieve maximum destruction, or otherwise enforce collective punishment on the people of Lebanon — actions entirely on par with the nature of the military.

"There was a clear intention of inflicting aimless physical and psychological torment among the Lebanese population," said Dr. Faisal Mosleh, a political science analyst and professor at the Islamic University of Lebanon "And this shock wave was felt all over."

Speaking to TRT World, Mosleh noted that what began as a limited war governed by "unwritten rules" following Oct. 7—where both sides sought to target military bases and corresponding strongholds – not densely populated civilian areas — has now evolved into a far more robust battleground.

He stressed that the world must recognise this shift – one born from a brazen disrespect for the established rules of warfare and for human life, driven by those who have consistently chosen the path of bloodshed over dialogue and diplomacy.

As news of the attacks spread on social media, global concern about artificial intelligence and cyber warfare technologies—particularly regarding autonomous weapons as a means of psychological torture — intensified. Mosleh framed the harrowing event as a dangerous sign that the future of humanity may be staring down a frightening path.

"People were blown up in their homes while hugging their children, in shops where they work or were merely purchasing items, and some were killed in their own workplace. It is not acceptable. It is something out of imagination and terrifying if we imagine that there are technological institutions capable of blowing us all up at any moment."

The political science expert vehemently opposed the floating rhetoric that this was a strategic or otherwise primed intelligence operation on Hezbollah members. The lives of both combatants and civilians, he argued, particularly in this case are rooted in the cultural fabric of the Lebanese pursuit of sovereignty, independence and freedom.

"The resistance has and will be a rational and mature force that cannot act rashly and without selectivity. They realise that any retaliation must be effective and as painful as what they, themselves, experienced. It only reacts, it does not ignite."

Mosleh emphasised that a number of those killed from the coordinated attacks were logistical personnel; those who had humanitarian health and medical missions, tasked with providing shelter and food for the displaced population, not active combatants.

"The Israeli regime knew that these devices would be in homes, on the streets, in hospitals and everywhere. They wanted to send a strong message to the resistance and any one seeking to defy."

But no matter what happens, "we are defending our right to life. We are defending our freedom. This is what international laws and the United Nations charter guarantees us," he added.

Seeds of war

In the wake of such tragedies on infrastructure, technology and civilian life, Israeli air strikes targeted a crowded residential area in the Dahiyeh suburbs of Beirut on Friday, resulting in the deaths of over 45 people, including five children, according to the local health ministry.

At least 60 others were injured during the attacks, which took place during rush hour as many children were returning home from school.

Many civilian bodies were already buried under mounds of rubble from Israel's earlier attacks just days before. Hours later, Israel confirmed the assassination of Ibrahim Aqil, a commander from Hezbollah, along with several other senior leaders from the group.

The Lebanese community has been left to contend with the aftermath.

Ziad, 32, who asked to use a pseudonym for security reasons, was taking a shower when he first heard the pager explosions on Tuesday. He lives with his parents and brother in a flat off Jamous street in the residential area of Dahiyeh, which fell prey to some of the detonated pager explosions seen in shops and other residential buildings.

Footage reviewed by TRT World showed flattened buildings and a thick haze of fumes. “The usually light and breathable Lebanese air is now filled with the stink of smoke,” Ziad said from his home, a mere 100 to 300 metres away from the epicentre of the blast.

"It's always been a war regarding principles of existence, not borders," he added. Ziad said he felt himself plunging into fight-or-flight mode amid frantic calls and texts from friends and family to assure each other of their safety.

As soon as he heard of a second building's collapse on Friday, he called on his mother to urgently pack her things, knowing war was imminent.

"When the warplanes break the sound barrier, we know what that means and what is coming," he said, rushing for the nearest suitcase.

Ziad and his family are now in central Beirut, staying with family friends. This is the third time he has been forced to abandon his home since the Oct. 7 attacks, following Hezbollah's declaration of war against Israel, in support of the Palestinian people and Hamas.

The last time Ziad was compelled to migrate from his home was immediately after an Israeli air strike targeted the Haret Hreik region of Dahiyeh, back in July. He recalls swiftly packing his bags, grabbing all that he could in a daze and running out with whichever belongings were nearest to him.

"My gut instinct, by this point, is to just act quickly — think and feel later," he told TRT World.

Driving through the Hadath region—generally considered safer than Dahye—felt like a desperate gamble. But Ziad, relying on his instincts, insists that central Beirut is their best chance for safety.

"In this instance, we go to emergency mode immediately. When you live in a state of constant alertness, your emotional sensitivity begins to dull, even in the face of the most draconian operations," he said.

For now, Ziad plans to remain in central Beirut. And when he is feeling down, he likes to go for jogs by the shores off the Mediterranean sea, where the blood-orange sunsets and steady sound of waves soothes his spirit. These days, the sound drowns out the tenacity of Israel's MK reconnaissance jets hovering non-stop above their soil: "surveilling, collecting data and bothering us day and night," he said.

He doesn't sleep much though. "We are waiting for what we know is inevitable."

Where is the world?

For many in Lebanon, global inaction to the past week's appalling events has only made the circumstances more challenging.

Nicolai Due-Gunderson, a United Kingdom-based Middle Eastern political analyst, told TRT World that the Lebanese spirit is resilient, but such events "breed a sense of isolation, especially if they feel that there is little to no support from the international community. As some have phrased it, 'We are not living day by day. We are living hour by hour.' "

Due-Gunderson asserted that relentless support from US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris's administration for Israel, combined with alarming reports that top US officials have lost faith in achieving a ceasefire in Gaza before Biden's departure from the White House in January, indicates that the war is likely to spiral into a far more catastrophic situation by the new year.

"With the threat of Hezbollah's retaliation and Netanyahu's recent announcement of expanded war goals that include the return of Israelis that fled the Lebanese border in the earlier months of the war, he no doubt feels empowered to act aggressively, especially after his address to the US Congress, where he was met with numerous standing ovations," he added.

After this past week from hell, Lebanese are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives, like they always have. Tania told TRT World that the detonations were akin to an alien form of warfare that had just invaded her life, uninvited, and unforgiving in its pursuit.

She and her family spent the entire month of August at home, anxiously reading reports of impending attacks, only to wake up each day and worry some more. "We've been on edge for months. Now, after this, the Lebanese people cannot handle much more."

Yasir Kuoti, a Middle East analyst based in Boston emphasised that whether Israel intends such torturous psychological mind games is irrelevant.

“What should remain important is that the Lebanese people, in the end, are the ones who will likely have to process and reprocess not only the shocks and sounds of the day, but also those of the past: recent events have undoubtedly triggered shockwaves where the grief over the many years of war, the loss of lives and sounds of explosions and fighter jets now feel [ingrained] in the Lebanese currency.”

For their part, Hezbollah leaders have vowed revenge, after declaring Israel's army has crossed yet another indiscriminate red line.

Since Friday, several explosions have been heard across several towns in Southern Beirut. With the region on the brink of an imminent catastrophe, Israel appears to remain immune to any form of accountability for its vast list of war crimes.

From her home in Qada al Matn, Tania spoke about the love and pride she felt for her Lebanon. "No matter how fragile our political crisis may be, we cry when we have to leave here, and we know that we can never find a home or people like it anywhere else."