Maronite priest recounts his experience witnessing Beirut’s pager explosions

ACI MENA, Sep 26, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

On the afternoon of Sept. 17, Father Marwan Ghanem, the head of the Nusroto Al-Anashid Charity Association and Brotherhood of Prisons in Lebanon, was on his way to Beirut for a medical appointment. Before reaching his destination, he witnessed some of the pager explosions that rocked the country.

Aiding three wounded

In an exclusive interview with ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, Ghanem recounted his experience. He was driving in the Ghobeiry district toward his appointment when he stopped to ask a motorcyclist for directions. Suddenly, he heard a faint popping sound, and the motorcyclist fell toward Ghanem’s car, bleeding from the stomach. Ghanem’s shirt was also stained with blood.

Shortly after that, another motorcycle collided with the rear of Ghanem’s car, and the injured rider fell to the ground. Ghanem was shocked, as he had not heard any sounds of an airstrike or shelling in the area. All he could see were people falling around him and lying in pools of blood. At that moment, a large number of pager devices owned by Hezbollah members had exploded.

Wearing his black clergy robe, Ghanem lent a helping hand, carrying three wounded individuals to cars heading to nearby hospitals. Afterward, he drove on and saw dozens of injured people making their way to the Sahel Hospital in Ghobeiry, suffering from wounds to their stomachs, hands, faces, and eyes.

Another car collided with the rear of Ghanem’s vehicle due to the widespread panic. The rear and rear-left windows of his car were damaged, and in Ghanem’s eyes, the scene was a river of blood.

The face of Christ in the wounded

Ghanem explained that when he got out to help the three wounded people, he did not consider whether they were Muslim or Christian. Instead, he recognized “the face of the wounded Christ on the road.” In such dire circumstances, he said, there is no distinction between a Christian and a Muslim, but rather everyone is human, created in the image of God.

The Maronite priest added that he had fulfilled God’s will by helping the wounded. Even if he only could get them to the hospital, he managed to help instead of leaving them to bleed on the road. He said he considers it a sin to not help the injured. He also noted that by getting out of his car, fear didn’t exist anymore — courage compelled him to help.

A miraculous escape

Ghanem also revealed that after the incident, he wondered what God wanted from him, as he had miraculously escaped the explosions. The doctor he was visiting had a pager in his office that had exploded, but the doctor was unharmed because he was in the next room with Ghanem. In an adjacent office, someone was injured and died. Ghanem believed that if he had been in the doctor’s office, he would have been injured as well. He thanked God for the long drive that delayed his arrival and said that he felt God’s grace had protected him, wanting him to continue his work in prisons and other humanitarian activities.

Ghanem said he considers all parties involved in the war to be losers. He reassured anxious Lebanese people and asked them to review their relationship with God, who does not abandon anyone.

How did the pagers explode?

The explosions of Hezbollah’s pagers killed 12 people and injured nearly 2,800 others, according to the Lebanese acting health minister, Firas Abiad.

Two analyses emerged regarding the cause of the explosions: One suggests that Israel had booby-trapped Hezbollah’s pagers before they were imported; the other hints at wave interference and battery heating.

The day following these device explosions, walkie-talkies also belonging to members of Hezbollah exploded throughout Lebanon.

This story was first published by ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.