Israeli Military Hits Hezbollah Following Device Explosion Crisis in Lebanon

Tel Aviv, Israel — The Israeli military launched a new wave of attacks against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday, after two days of device explosions that left the Middle East fearing all-out war. The attack on southern Lebanon involved airstrikes and artillery but Israeli ground forces had not crossed the border, an Israeli official told NBC News.

The Israel Defense Forces announced the strikes — which it said were aimed at degrading the group’s capabilities and infrastructure — just as the leader of the Iran-backed militant and political group began a much-anticipated response to the stunning attacks using walkie-talkies and pagers.

At least 37 people, including two children, were killed and thousands more injured across Lebanon, the country’s health minister said early Thursday — a rising toll from the wave of attacks that left the country reeling and the region on the brink.

As the world urged against further escalation after months of devastating war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel indicated its focus had shifted to its northern border with Lebanon, declaring a new phase to its simmering monthslong conflict with Hezbollah.

The attacks left a trail from Taiwan to Hungary that reached the doors of a walkie-talkie maker in Japan and a company in Bulgaria on Thursday. But in Lebanon, Hezbollah has been left in disarray and has rattled an already beleaguered country, with hospitals overwhelmed and the public fearful that mobile phones or other devices may explode.

In a speech Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah referred to the “terrorist” attack as unprecedented, noting that the explosions of roughly 4,000 devices hurt civilians, not just Hezbollah members. He went on to call it an act of war against Lebanon.

“The enemy has crossed all red lines and all laws in this attack,” Nasrallah said, vowing that Israelis would not be able to achieve their goal of repopulating Israel’s evacuated northern areas without ending its military aggression.

Israeli warplanes flew over Lebanon and broke the sound barrier during Nasrallah's speech, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency. The Lebanese Army said Thursday that specialized units were detonating “pagers and suspicious communication devices in various areas,” warning the public to stay away from the blast sites and report any suspicious devices without approaching them.