PHOTO ESSAY: Portraits of survivors of Israel's pager attack on Hezbollah last year

BAZOURIEH, Lebanon (AP) — On Sept. 17, 2024, thousands of pagers distributed to the Hezbollah group exploded across Lebanon, remotely detonated by Israel and aimed at disrupting the Iran-backed group as it fired almost daily at Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The pager attack wounded more than 3,000 people and killed 12, including two children. Hezbollah has acknowledged that most were among its personnel, which includes fighters as well as politicians, religious leaders and service providers.

Israel boasted of its prowess. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented U.S. President Donald Trump with a golden pager as a gift.

Human rights groups have called the attack indiscriminate, saying international law prohibits the use of booby traps. Israeli security officials have rejected that allegation, saying the pagers were exclusively sold to Hezbollah members.

Over 10 months later, survivors are easily identifiable, with missing eyes, faces laced with scars, hands with missing fingers.

For weeks after the attack, The Associated Press attempted to reach survivors in the tight-knit community. The AP also contacted Hezbollah and its association treating those affected. A representative of the association shared the contacts of eight people who expressed readiness to talk.

The AP independently reached out. Six agreed to be interviewed. They spoke without a Hezbollah representative present — offering a rare glimpse into the human cost of the attack.

Her head heavy with a cold, Jaffal woke up late and shuffled into the kitchen. The silence of the apartment was pierced by the unfamiliar buzzing of a pager lying near a table.

Annoyed but curious, the 21-year-old picked up the device belonging to her relative, a Hezbollah member. She saw a message: “Error,” then “Press OK.”

“Suddenly everything went dark,” Jaffal said. She was in and out of consciousness for hours, blood streaming from her mouth.

She has had 45 surgeries. More will come, including reconstructive surgery on her face and fingers. Two fingers are fused. Four are missing. She is waiting for a prosthetic right eye. Physiotherapy reminds her how much is still ahead.

She leans on her faith to summon patience.

“God only burdens us with what we can bear,” she said.

The simultaneous explosions spread chaos and panic in Lebanon. Hospitals were overwhelmed.

It was like a “slaughterhouse,” said Mestrah, who had picked up the pager of a relative, a Hezbollah member. “People didn’t recognize each other. Families were shouting out their relatives’ names to identify them.”

Her right eye was saved, with shrapnel removed. The first thing she saw after 10 days of darkness was her mother.

She lost the tips of three fingers on her right hand. Her ears still ring today.

Mestrah, a 26-year-old event planner, said her recovery has delayed plans to find a new career. But she looks forward to her wedding, to her fiance of eight years.

“He is half my recovery,” she said.

Sheri, a 23-year-old Hezbollah fighter, had been ordered back to the frontline on the day of the attack. Before leaving, he spent time with family.

His pager usually vibrated. This time, it beeped. He approached to check for Hezbollah warnings or directives. Then he felt sharp pain.

He was first treated in Syria, then in Iraq. Shrapnel was removed from his left eye socket and he had a prosthetic eye installed.

Now Hezbollah is helping him find a new job. He asked his fiancée if she wanted to move on. She refused. They married during a video call while he was in Iraq.

Some children now fear coming near their fathers, he said: “It not only affects us but also those around us.”

In southern Lebanon, 12-year-old Dheini picked up the pager that belonged to his father, a Hezbollah member. “Usually when (the pager) rings, I give it to my dad, but this was a strange ring,” the boy said.

Dheini lost his right eye. His teeth were blown out. His grandmother picked them off the couch.

“It was a nightmare,” said his mother, Faten Haidar.

The boy, a member of Hezbollah scouts, the group’s youth movement, had been talented at reciting the Quran. Now he struggles to pace his breathing. The family has moved to a ground-floor apartment so he climbs fewer stairs.

Pink scars crisscross his face. He spends more time with other children injured like him.

“I used to run and go to school,” the boy said. “Now I go to Beirut” for treatment.

The 35-year-old preacher had put on his glasses after hours of reading, and they deflected some shrapnel from the blast. Still, he was blinded, and lost three fingers.

Now he recalls how his two young daughters — Mariam, 4, and Fatima, 3 — had often played with his pager. Sometimes he found it among their toys. It was not immediately clear why he had one. Hezbollah officials said the pagers were not only in the hands of fighters but also with group administrators. Choeib delivered religious lessons to Hezbollah members.

He has resumed his work as a teacher at a Shiite religious school. But he remains on edge. His car has an alarm almost identical to the sound that the pager made before it exploded — a regular reminder of the attack.

He sometimes worries that his mobile phone will blow up, too.

“After losing my eyes I don’t want to lose my ears,” he joked.

The 12-year-old boy picked up the pager of his father, one of Hezbollah’s personnel. At first, his family thought the television had exploded.

The paramedics made him spit out the blood filling his mouth after the explosion so he would not suffocate. While he was in intensive care, relatives back home found fingers and his left eye.

The family was displaced after the blast. When the boy returned to their newly rented apartment, the landlord saw him, panicked and asked them to leave, fearing Israel would target them again. At their next rented place, the boy was kept out of sight.

After 10 surgeries, Abbas was able to rejoin his friends at Hezbollah’s scouts. They inspected his injuries.

“My friends have gotten used to me,” he said. He is expecting more surgeries.

This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.

Sarah Jaffal, 21, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, shows her wounded hand as he poses for a photograph in the southern village of Bazourieh, Lebanon, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Sarah Jaffal, 21, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, shows her wounded hand as he poses for a photograph in the southern village of Bazourieh, Lebanon, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Sarah Jaffal, 21, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, shows her wounded hand as she poses for a photograph in the southern village of Bazourieh, Lebanon, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Sarah Jaffal, 21, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, poses for a photograph in the southern village of Bazourieh, Lebanon, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Hussein Dheini, 12, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, shows his wounded hand as he poses for a photograph in the southern village of Teir Debba, Lebanon, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Hussein Dheini, 12, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, poses for a photograph in the southern village of Teir Debba, Lebanon, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Mustafa Choeib, 35, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, shows his wounded hand as he poses for a photograph in the southern village of Borj Rahhal, Lebanon, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Mustafa Choeib, 35, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, poses for a photograph in the southern village of Borj Rahhal, Lebanon, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Ali Abbas, 11, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, poses for a photograph in the southern village of Barish, Lebanon, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Ali Abbas, 11, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, shows his wounded hand as he poses for a photograph in the southern village of Barish, Lebanon, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Ali Abbas, 11, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, poses for a photograph in the southern village of Barish, Lebanon, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Zeinab Mestrah, 26, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, shows her wounded hand as she poses for a photograph in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Zeinab Mestrah, 26, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, poses for a photograph in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Zeinab Mestrah, 26, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, poses for a photograph in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Mahdi Sheri, 23, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, shows his wounded hand as he poses for a photograph in Beirut's southern suburb of Burj al-Barajneh, Lebanon, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Mahdi Sheri, 23, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, poses for a photograph in Beirut's southern suburb of Burj al-Barajneh, Lebanon, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Mahdi Sheri, 23, who was wounded in the pagers attack carried out by Israel on September 17, 2024, poses for a photograph in Beirut's southern suburb of Burj al-Barajneh, Lebanon, Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Coach Steve Kerr spoke with Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga during the morning shootaround Thursday about the player's situation being out of the rotation for more than a month now with expectations he will be traded before the deadline next month.

“We talked this morning and that’s all private,” Kerr said. “I will keep coaching him, he’ll be part of the team, he’ll be here. It is what it is.”

Kerr discounted any issues between them as being reason Kuminga has reportedly requested a trade from the team after not being used in the last 14 games since Dec. 18 and 17 of 18 — though he has been listed as injured for nine games this season.

“Our relationship is fine,” Kerr said before Golden State's 126-113 win over the New York Knicks. “There's not a whole lot I can say about the other stuff. It is what it is, difficult situation for everybody and part of this league, part of the job. We just keep moving forward.”

Kuminga has been training much of the time on his own, shooting on the Warriors’ practice floor out of the eyes of fans at Chase Center. He wears a black hood over his head on the end of the bench during games. Perhaps Kuminga and the Warriors weren't a great fit from Day 1 — not that it's his fault — and he might be eager to leave and start fresh elsewhere. If so, the Golden State brass might want to make sure he doesn't get hurt before trying to trade him.

Yet nobody has taken issue with his work ethic, at least not publicly. Kuminga, selected seventh overall in the 2021 draft, has been known to stay long after games shooting on the arena's main floor.

“It’s not a distraction at all. It’s a very unique situation but our job is just to keep playing, keep winning, it’ll resolve itself one way or the other,” Stephen Curry said.

The 23-year-old from the Democratic Republic of the Congo has appeared in just 18 games total with 13 starts, averaging 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists.

On Sept. 30, he agreed to a two-year contract that could be worth up to $46.5 million if the team were to exercise its option for 2026-27. Kuminga had had a $7.9 million qualifying offer in hand since June 29 but was also weighing other options and he missed media day.

He has long had the support and confidence of teammates — like Jimmy Butler saying he has been having Kuminga over and continuing to encourage him.

“We love JK in this locker room, that's not going to change,” Butler said postgame. “If he happens to not be in here, we'll still rock with JK. I speak for everybody. We love the guy. I wish him the best here, I wish him the best wherever. It doesn't change. We don't listen to the noise, I hope he don't listen to the noise he keep coming here with a smile doing what he's supposed to do and being the ultimate pro.”

Kuminga missed much of last season with a right ankle injury. He averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 24.3 minutes over 47 games with 10 starts. He also scored 15.3 points per game over eight playoff games while shooting 48.4% from the floor and making 40% of his 3-point attempts. That included a career-best 30-point performance in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Kerr said the uncertainty around Kuminga's future “won't be a distraction.”

“Jonathan's a great young guy, his teammates like him,” Kerr said. "He's handling himself well.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, middle, sits near the team bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks in San Francisco, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga (1) and Utah Jazz center Oscar Tshiebwe (34) swap jerseys after the Warriors defeat the Jazz during an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Justine Willard)