A Lebanese official said pagers belonging to Hezbollah militants had exploded, causing a large number of injuries. The Israeli military declined to comment.

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, just as the militant group’s leader said two days of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies amounted to a declaration of war.

Israel launched a series of strikes on Hezbollah targets Thursday as the war against the Lebanon-based group widened in the wake of two consecutive days of deadly explosions triggered in wireless devices.

Hezbollah war grows as the two sides trade new fire, Hezbollah's leader accuses Israel of crossing "red lines."

Hezbollah has accused Israel of crossing “all red lines” with its deadly detonation of walkie-talkies and pagers, as Israeli forces launched a fresh wave of strikes across Lebanon. Sonic booms from low-flying Israeli jets shook the buildings in Beirut during a televised speech by the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in which he warned this week’s unprecedented action “could be called a declaration of war”.