Marhaba.
I live in Lebanon, Aley district. Israeli airstrike targets are at proximity of my location. Beirut, and particularly Dahieh, is completely visible from my balcony. There are also refugees sheltered in my town.
Other things to know about me: I am a leftist, and a legal and political writer.
P.S. I will answer anything (as it is with AMA posts), not only issues pertaining to the recent events.
Pagers exploded.
Walkie-talkies exploded.
Are people living in fear their lightswitch is about to blow up, or their showerhead, or something? Is there a climate of fear about hidden bombs in everyday objects?
Oh that was a common concern. Especially directly after the incident, there was a lot of fear mongering being perpetuated. Some claimed that the batteries of phones and laptops were also rigged or, worse, lithium batteries connected to solar panels were going to explode (FYI, the majority of households use solar energy and virtually every roof has at least one station).
Also, you reminded me of this
How come most people can afford solar panels and batteries?
cheaper than a power plant... and more reliable in places with frequent blackouts.
small panels, enough to run LED lights and charge phones or whatnot, are very cheap these days. I'm guessing it's not like most people have a big array of panels and enough batteries for a whole home (at least not at anywhere near murican consumption levels), but even a small solar setup is a valuable backup source
Right, I initially pictured a full setup with an inverter for feeding power back to the grid and enough power for their whole homes. I know some people that have similar small solar setups to make it through hurricanes, it's a real life saver and I can imagine if your neighbors are demented Zionists it's always good to have backup plans.
Cheaply imported set ups. Though there had been many incidents of batteries exploding and burning houses. I witnessed one burning the apartment complex next door; that was one hell of a night. Relevant article: https://thepublicsource.org/lebanon-solar-privatization .