For a Fractured Lebanon, Nearby Tensions Weigh Hard

It was the kind of incident that Lebanon has feared most. A bomb targeting Hizballah, itself implicated in terrorist bombings, exploded near the Islamic Cooperation Center, the organization’s stronghold in the Bir al-Abed neighborhood outside Beirut. The blast, which took place in a parking lot as Ramadan began, reportedly didn’t kill anyone but injured 53 people and left a crater 6 ft. (2 m) deep.

The attack marks the first direct hit on the Shi’ite party since it formally acknowledged aiding forces loyal to Syrian leader Bashar Assad in his civil war with Sunni revolutionaries. And it raises the chances that Lebanon will descend into sectarian strife.

Thousands of Iran-backed Hizballah fighters have poured into Syria in recent months, and the added manpower has helped the regime make significant gains against the opposition, including the retaking of Qusayr, on a main supply route.

A variety of actors tried to keep a lid on the events. A Free Syrian Army spokesman condemned the attack. Predictably, Hizballah blamed the U.S. and Israel. Maura Connelly, the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, asked for “calm, constraint and respect.” But for 4 million people who are divided under a caretaker government, who have taken in about 600,000 refugees and who fear a new wave of internal carnage, that’s no easy feat.

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