For millions of Lebanese, this week’s mass explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies, with its bloody aftermath, is painfully similar to the horrific explosion four years ago of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrates that tore through Beirut’s port,

The death toll in Lebanon has more than doubled since Friday, when Israel carried out a strike against Hezbollah that killed a senior member wanted by the U.S. for a series of bombings more than 40 years ago.

Fears of escalation are felt most acutely on the streets of Lebanon, where the army carried out controlled explosions on suspicious devices, and locals have told journalists to take camera away, wary of further blasts.