By Wassim Seifeddine
BEIRUT (AA) - Eight-year-old Fatima Abdullah was eagerly revising her lessons after her first day of school in the village of Saraain El Faouqa in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, filled with hope for the new academic year despite the country's ongoing conflict.
Tragically, her moments of optimism were short-lived when her father's pager exploded while she was holding it, taking her young life and shattering her innocent dreams.
Fatima was one of 12 victims who lost their lives on Tuesday in a rare and devastating explosion of thousands of wireless communication devices known as pagers that rocked Lebanon amid ongoing tensions caused by Israel's daily artillery and drone attacks, as well as threats of invasion.
Friends and family remember Fatima with profound sorrow, describing her as a bright and beloved child with big dreams for the future.
Her aunt, Fatima, 48, shared with Anadolu the heartbreaking final moments of her niece's life.
She recounted that Fatima was studying alone in the kitchen while her brother and parents were outside the house when the explosion occurred.
With tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, “Fatima had just returned from her first day of school, brimming with enthusiasm. She was a top student and loved by everyone.”
Fatima's friend, nine-year-old Ali Abdullah, also remembered the tragic events.
“Fatima was sitting on the sofa and was studying when the pager rang. She picked it up to give it to her father who was outside, but it exploded in her hands,” he told Anadolu.
Fatima has become a symbol of Lebanon's pain, with social media users widely sharing her name and photos, making her the most prominent face among the explosion's victims.
The town of Saraain El Faouqa bid farewell to Fatima in a poignant memorial ceremony on Wednesday.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Alabiad announced that 11-year-old Mohammad Bilal King is also among the victims of page blasts.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah announced that Mohammad and three other party members, including the son of Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar, would be buried in the Ghobeiry area of southern Beirut.
The Lebanese government and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the explosion of thousands of pager devices, vowing severe retaliation for the deaths of 12 people, including two children, and the injury of approximately 2,800 others.
Later Wednesday afternoon, a new wave of wireless communications device explosions in Lebanon killed at least 14 people more and injured over 450 others. In two days of such incidents, 26 people were killed and more than 3,200 were injured.
Lebanon's official National News Agency reported wireless radios also exploded in the hands of users in Lebanon's southern city of Tyre.
Unlike the pagers, explosions also occurred on Wednesday involving “ICOM” devices used exclusively for emergency medical operations in southern Lebanon which killed nine and injured over 300.
Pagers are small, battery-powered wireless devices that receive text messages, audio, and visual signals. They are commonly used for communication by civilians and health care workers.
Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati later assured the public that the second wave of wireless device explosions in Lebanon has ended and that no new injured people have been admitted to hospitals.
Israel remained mum, with the Prime Minister's Office distancing itself from a now-deleted social media post by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's former top aide and spokesperson Topaz Luk, which hinted at Israeli responsibility for the attacks.
The new wave of explosions came amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israel against the backdrop of a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip which has killed nearly 41,300 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul