Lebanon’s terrible year: From exploding pagers to Israeli occupation

On September 17, 2024, a series of small explosions echoed along many of Lebanon’s streets. The incident, which sparked confusion and terror throughout the country, came to be known as the pager attack – and was a definitive day in Israel’s war on Lebanon.

The attack wounded many operatives with connections to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria but also hurt and killed civilians, including two children.

What followed in the days, weeks and months after was a whirlwind of intensifying violence, political assassinations and mass displacement in Lebanon as Israel expanded a relatively controlled war with the Iran-backed, armed political group Hezbollah into an all-out assault on southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley in the east and Beirut.

One year on, the political reality on the ground has b