Israeli warplanes carried out late on Thursday their most intense strikes on southern Lebanon in nearly a year of war, heightening the conflict between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah amid calls for restraint.

Israeli warplanes shattered the calm over Beirut on Thursday as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered a fiery televised speech from an undisclosed location. Nasrallah accused Israel of crossing a "red line" following the remote detonation of rigged communication devices that killed 37 and injured over 3,

Israel said it struck hundreds of targets in Lebanon, hours after Hezbollah’s leader called device explosions a possible ‘declaration of war’.