Beirut, Lebanon — Patients screamed in pain and paramedic teams shouted frantic orders to attend to gaping wounds at Beirut’s Hotel Dieu hospital on Tuesday afternoon, after thousands of handheld pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously. 

Ambulances rushed through the hospital gates, delivering victims splattered in blood, most with bandages encasing their heads and hands. Some were carried by their own family members.

“The injuries are very severe,” Dr Antione Zoghbi, the director of the hospital’s emergency department, told The New Arab, as victims continued to arrive. By nightfall, the hospital had reached capacity, with more than 120 wounded filling all of the available beds.

Over 3,000 people were injured and at least 12 people were killed – including two children and numerous civilians – in the operation suspected to have been carried out by Israel against Hezbollah members. The pagers exploded across the country – from Beirut’s densely-packed southern suburbs to the country’s eastern Bekaa valley and southern regions.

“Most of [the victims] suffered from injuries to their eyes and on their hands because they were holding their pager devices while looking at them,” Dr Zoghbi explained. “Almost all of the wounded hands have to be amputated and many eyes will be surgically removed,” the doctor said.

One of those who reportedly lost an eye was Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani.

The hospital’s entire 300-person staff was mobilised as it activated its emergency plan, the doctor said. Meanwhile, the Civil Defence deployed all of its ambulances in a massive rescue effort, their blaring alarm horns reverberating off Beirut’s streets.

The hectic ballet of ambulances encircled a hospital employee at Hotel Dieu. “It feels like August 4th,” he muttered with disbelief, remembering the traumatic explosion that ripped through Beirut’s port in 2020 and killed more than 200, wounding thousands.

A second wave of explosions on Wednesday afternoon wounded a further 100 people and killed at least one, Lebanon’s health minister Firas Abiad confirmed at 6pm, but the death toll continues to rise. This time, walkie-talkies, cell phones, and other electronic devices detonated in the streets and in people’s homes. 

Explosions were reported around the country, including in a phone shop in the southern city of Saida, and at the funeral in Beirut’s southern suburbs for three Hezbollah members and a child, creating a wave of panic among those in attendance.