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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSpeaking about that day \u2013 and life since \u2013 is understandably difficult for Khayat. \u201cIt’s overwhelming to process such trauma within a short time frame. Even five years later, I’m still trying to make sense of it, still grappling with the emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khayat is not alone. \u201cEvery time I speak of August 4, a shock crawls through me,\u201d Dima Anis Raydan tells The National. Visiting from her village in Bekaa, Raydan was stuck in traffic when, moments after noticing smoke in the distance, she felt the impact of shattered glass and saw her white T\u2011shirt \u201cturn red with blood\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raydan left Lebanon the following year, \u201cbut Beirut followed me in my body,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like many with ties to the capital \u2013 not just Lebanese \u2013 Raydan is still coming to terms with the events of that day. Although tragedies have been continuing throughout Lebanon and the region at large, moving forward from the events of August 4 is particularly painful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery conversation raises the same haunting question: Why did this happen to us, the people who loved Beirut?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lebanon at breaking point While the country has a long history of resilience in the face of adversity, from civil wars to political instability, the Beirut explosion was different, according to Dr Alexandre Machado, clinical neuropsychologist at Hakkini. \u201cIt was not the result of war or conflict but a catastrophic accident caused by negligence,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom a neuropsychological perspective, humans are better equipped to handle familiar or predictable threats. The Beirut explosion occurred during a moment of relative calm, shattering any sense of security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shock element feeds into the long-term trauma many are experiencing, making it, \u201charder for people to reconcile with the event, as it disrupted their mental preparation and sense of control,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Derek Issacs, a British national who moved to the UAE in 2018 after living in Beirut for 17 years, tells The National: \u201cI am as shocked today as I was then. I always will be. I still can’t put into words how I felt. It still affects me deeply, even though I wasn’t physically there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before his move, Issacs was flatmates with Khayat for many years. Much of his life \u2013 community, possessions, even rescue cat Little Frank \u2013 remained in that flat they had shared. He recalls being cut off from loved ones for hours after seeing the blast online, feeling sick and helpless, stuck inside due to Covid restrictions. \u201cFinally, I got through. Tony was a mess. He told me the apartment was gone, completely destroyed, as were all the surrounding streets. Everything inside was lost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miraculously, his cat, Little Frank, who took shelter in a wardrobe, was OK bar a few cuts and scuffs, but many of his friends and neighbours weren’t so lucky. Issacs would later go on to seek out therapy. He still feels lost, often finding himself reliving the day, hoping for a different outcome. As Raydan puts it: \u201cIt split lives into ‘before’ and ‘after.’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Burden, betrayal and blame \u201cSome collective traumas cut more deeply because they bear more than the burden of loss \u2013 they bear the burden of betrayal,\u201d says Dr Jammal. \u201cNational tragedies like this are so painful because they are the collision of collective injustice with personal grief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr Machado adds: \u201cThe scale of the event \u2013 such as significant loss of life or widespread destruction \u2013 affects not just individuals but entire communities, creating collective grief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Khayat puts it, the catastrophe affected \u201cnearly every Lebanese person in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The largest non-nuclear blast in modern history, estimates say more than 6,000 were injured, while more than 220 died and over 100 remain missing. Infrastructure damage led to 300,000 displaced individuals. The blast was heard over 200km away in Cyprus and was equivalent to a 3.3 magnitude earthquake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Raydan was there on the day, watching as \u201cstrangers became rescuers,\u201d it impacted Lebanese society at large as it \u201cuprooted communities, accelerated emigration and reshaped Beirut\u2019s identity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Encouraging collective healing “Shared narratives can help people to make sense of tragedy, allowing both individuals and societies to start to heal,\u201d says Dr Machado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Especially in cases where there is no accountability, the power of art, solidarity and community in both \u201creinstalling dignity\u201d and ensuring \u201cpeople feel heard, valued and seen,\u201d shouldn’t be underestimated, adds Dr Jammal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do memorials bring closure? While many gather outside their old flat each year with candles, Issacs believes that until there is a sense of closure, \u201cwe can’t have a real memorial yet. I hope one day we’ll get to that point, that we’ll have the justice and truth that makes a memorial meaningful. But until then, it feels too soon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raydan, meanwhile, notes that as an architect and urban planner, she inherently respects the power of memorials, but \u201cnot now. Not yet.\u201d For her, it might take a century or so, when those who lived through it become history, for the time to be right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Khayak describes a memorial as \u201cessential\u201d while understanding why some others push back currently. While he sees many thoughtful gestures each year, he says they feel \u201cfragmented.\u201d He believes a collective effort should come from the government, considering its role to represent the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Protecting personal well-being Dr Machado encourages those impacted to seek support. \u201cThese moments serve not only to honour those who have passed but also to reflect on how far we have come, offering comfort by recognising the distance from that painful reality,\u201d he says. \u201cThis reflection can provide a sense of hope and resilience, acknowledging both individual and collective growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trauma anniversaries can reignite intense emotions, so approaching them gently is important, adds Dr Jammal. \u201cGive yourself permission to experience what emerges \u2013 anger, grief or numbness. Plan ahead by creating rituals that feel meaningful and grounding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Most importantly, do not put pressure on oneself to move on,\u201d she adds. \u201cHaving a hard time doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re regressing \u2013 it\u2019s a natural response to a continuing wound.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n August 4, 2020, started as a run-of-the-mill Tuesday for the people of Beirut. As the early evening hours crept in, dusk teasing the skies after a summer’s day, many people who lived and worked around the Port of Beirut were preparing to retire. What happened next would not only tragically end more than 220 lives, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[859],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-859","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53225,"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53220\/revisions\/53225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_8287.jpeg\")
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The blast represented a breaking point, says Dr Dana Jammal, counselling psychologist at Thrive Wellbeing Centre. The people of Lebanon were already \u201cworn down emotionally by years of economic collapse, political crisis and mass trauma,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lack of accountability is the \u201cmissing puzzle piece\u201d that haunts victims, says Khayat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She, like many others, have found strength in shared grief. \u201cHealing comes from solidarity,\u201d she says. \u201cFor me, true healing began only when I listened to others’ grief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the years since, debate has surrounded the site left in the wake of the blast. Crumbling grain silos \u2013 some of which already burnt down in a fire two years later \u2013 still tower over the city. Some protest for the ugly reminder to be removed, while others insist they remain to honour those lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While societal healing is challenging, experts say survivors can protect their own well-being on anniversary dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/alyawmiyah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_8289.jpeg\")
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