ISRAEL has bombed hundreds of targets just hours after Hezbollah’s leader vowed revenge for the sabotage attack that left 37 dead.
The overnight strikes comes after exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, sabotaged by Mossad spies, targeted Hezbollah terrorists in two surprise attacks.
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Analysts believe Israel could be set to invade, with one diplomat labelling that outcome a “doomsday scenario”.
The Israeli military blitzed 52 strikes across southern Lebanon in the attack, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA said.
Israel claimed to have destroyed 100 rocket launchers and around 1,000 launch barrels in the strikes.
Black and white footage posted to social media showed the country blowing up targets.
The IDF said: “The IDF continues to damage and degrade the terror capabilities and military infrastructure of the Hezbollah terror organization.”
Israel also hit the south of the country in earlier strikes as it shifts its war away from Gaza and towards its northern neighbour.
The Israeli military said on Thursday it struck six Hezbollah “terrorist infrastructure sites” and a weapons storage facility in southern Lebanon overnight, as fears grew of a full-blown war.
Three Lebanese security sources told Reuters it was the most intense bombing since October last year when war exploded between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
The IDF said their attacks are intended to “degrade Hezbollah’s terrorist capabilities and infrastructure”.
Iran-backed Hezbollah meanwhile said it launched at least 17 attacks on military sites in northern Israel.
Yesterday Hezbollah kingpin Hassan Nasrallah issued a chilling threat after the hack attacks left 37 dead, 3,600 maimed and wounded, and his fighting force in chaos.
Speaking for the first time since the deadly device sabotage, Nasrallah vowed Israel would face retribution.
Nasrallah said Israel would face “tough retribution and just punishment, where it expects it and where it does not” and described the attacks as a “massacre” and a possible “act of war”.
Sky’s foreign correspondent John Sparks was reporting live following Nasrallah’s speech when a large blast was heard and sonic booms shook Beirut.
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Rami Mortada, Lebanon’s ambassador to the UK, told The Times an Israeli invasion would be a “doomsday scenario”.
He said: “We are facing all the risks of an all-out regional conflict and that’s what we have been tirelessly trying to avoid.
“Let’s hope that we don’t get there because this is a doomsday scenario for everyone. It’s definitely a doomsday for Lebanon but Lebanon will not hurt alone in this war.”
Mortada warned that Hezbollah was a “formidable fighting force” and claimed Israel should be weary of another inconclusive war like in 2006.
Israel yesterday also accused Iran and Hezbollah of a twisted cyber attack where phones across the country were flooded with sick messages.
One of the texts read “Say goodbye to your loved ones”, while another said “Don’t worry, you will hug them in hell”.
Tens of thousands of people have had to flee the border area between the two countries.
Hezbollah have killed 26 civilians and 20 soldiers and forced 80,000 Israelis to flee south to escape the blitz, which has damaged nearly 1,000 homes within six miles of the border.
Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to return the evacuated Israelis “securely to their homes”.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared the start of a “new phase” of war as the country’s army moved north.
The announcement paves the way for the first full-scale invasion of southern Lebanon since 2006 in a drive to push back the terror group and allow Israelis to return home.
But the risky move raises the spectre of Hezbollah backers, Iran being drawn into a devastating regional conflict.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has warned the situation in the Middle East could “deteriorate rapidly” and urged Brits to leave while they still can.
He tweeted: “My message to British nationals in Lebanon is leave while commercial options remain.
“Tensions are high and the situation could deteriorate rapidly.”
Where did the pagers come from?
By James Halpin, Foreign News Reporter
Iranian proxy Hezbollah ordered the pagers months ago but never thought the quaint piece of tech could be tampered with.
Hezbollah shifted to pagers after the group’s leader told members to stop using phones in February over fears they could be tracked by Israeli spies.
A senior Lebanese security source said the group had ordered 5,000 beepers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which were brought into the country in the spring.
But Gold Apollo told media in Taipei today the specific order was manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT in Budapest.
Gold Apollo boss Hsu Ching-kuang said BAC asked to manufacture their own pagers with the company’s trademark and they were paid from a mystery Middle Eastern bank account, NPR reports.
BAC Consulting chief executive Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono confirmed to media that her company worked with Gold Apollo.
But said, “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate.”
At some point during the manufacture, the devices were modified by Israel’s spy service with a small amount of explosive.
The AR-924 pager is described as being “rugged” and contains a rechargeable lithium battery with 85 days of battery life.
Their longevity would be important in Lebanon which has suffered major power outages.
Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies and harder for Israel to hack digitally.
The affected pagers were only delivered to Hezbollah recently.
Reports now claim Mossad set up shell companies to build the devices themselves.
But the New York Times reported BAC is an Israeli shell company, one of at least three used by spies to mask their identity.
BAC took on ordinary clients for whom they produced ordinary pagers.
Pagers sent to Hezbollah, however, contained the explosive PETN.
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