First Israel’s Exploding Pagers Maimed and Killed. Now Comes the Paranoia

The explosion of thousands of rigged pagers and walkie-talkies will likely make Hezbollah operatives fear any means of electronic communication. It’s having the same effect on the Lebanese population.

When Nadim Kobeissi was a child growing up in Beirut in the early 2000s, sonic booms created by the Israel Defense Forces' planes in the skies above Lebanon would occasionally rattle his home, generating enough noise and concussive force that he and his family would sometimes sleep in the hallways to avoid pieces of glass from shattered windows falling onto them in the night. The psychological effect—which he believes was intentional—was long-lasting. Even years later, after he'd left Lebanon, the sound of fireworks would make him start subconsciously sweating and shaking.