"He who has lost one eye will fight with the other": Lebanese call for revenge after deadly bomb blasts blamed on Israel

A series of explosions involving electronic devices, the second this week, hit a large number of people in Lebanon as they gathered for funerals for those killed in the explosions. beepers Tuesday.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the surprise explosions of walkie-talkies and portable radios caused at least 20 deaths and more than 450 injuries, adding to the dozen deaths and thousands of injuries recorded the previous day.

At one funeral, some members of the public were defiant and angry as they spoke to the BBC. Doctors also described the horrific injuries they had to treat.

These are the accounts collected by two BBC journalists in Beirut.

Now Everyone is wary of people using phones or other devices After yesterday’s massive attack with explosions beepers and the second wave today.

While the funeral of the deceased, including a child, was taking place, we heard an explosion and people started to panic. The crowd started to run in different directions.

We had to leave the funeral and find a safe place.

However, I was able to speak to funeral attendees and get a sense of what they were going through.

They had gathered there in large numbers to attend the funeral of An 11-year-old boy and three members of the Hezbollah group were killed in Tuesday’s pager attacks.

Men, women and even children took to the streets with banners bearing the photo of the dead child.

Some held yellow Hezbollah flags and others held large black flags bearing the image of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Women threw rose petals on the victims’ coffins. The scene is all too familiar to people who, like me, have been to funerals of Hezbollah members in the past.

Some parents brought their children.

People said that what happened was a great crime against humanity, but that it would make their resistance and determination stronger.

His tone was defiant as prayers blared from loudspeakers. Some children were dressed as scouts to bid farewell to the 11-year-old boy.

I asked a young man if he knew any of the injured or deceased.

“Everyone knows someone. The pain is enormous, both physically and in the heart. But It’s something we’re used to and we will continue with our resistance,” he responded.

A 45-year-old woman at my side at the funeral told me with a defiant smile on her face: “This will make us stronger, whoever has lost one eye will fight with the other and we will all be together.”

The scene outside the hospital was crowded but relatively calm this morning, with many relatives waiting outside the hospital for news about their loved ones.

It was a contrast to the night before, when the hospital was filled with cries and screams as the wounded were brought in immediately after the explosions.

I managed to talk to the professor Elias Warrakan ophthalmologist at Mount Lebanon University Medical Center, who told me what he saw Tuesday afternoon was a nightmare. “It was the worst day of my life,” he said.

Sitting in his office with a calm air he told me: “Unfortunately last night I had to remove more eyes than in my entire 25-year career as a doctor.”

“I wanted to save at least one of the victims’ eyes (to save their sight) and in some cases I couldn’t, I had to remove both eyes because the ammunition had entered directly into the eyes.”

As he spoke to me in his office, Dr. Warak seemed calm, but he was very sad and reflecting on what had happened and what he had seen.

“It was very hard. Most of the patients They were young people in their twenties and in some cases I had to remove both of their eyes. In my entire life I have never seen scenes like those yesterday.”

He had been in the hospital for almost 24 hours treating victims, with only a short break.

Warak praised the relatives and family members of the victims and their resilience in coping with what happened to their loved ones with great patience.

Around 3,000 people have been injured, 200 of them in critical condition.

In a second wave of explosions, at least 20 people were killed and more than 450 injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, said that the beepers belonged to “employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions” and confirmed the deaths of its fighters. The group has blamed Israel, as has the Lebanese prime minister. The Israeli military has declined to comment.

Immediately after the explosions, I spoke to other members of the medical staff.

“It is very delicate and some scenes are horrible,” a hospital staff member told me. He added that most of the injuries occurred at the waist, face, eyes and hands.

“Many of the injured have lost fingers, in some cases all of them.”

The whole country is in a state of disbelief and shock.people are unable to come to grips with what really happened.

I can say that it is something unprecedented in scale and nature and extremely difficult to understand even for a country accustomed to unfathomable events.

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