The immediate context for the attacks is the “low-intensity war” between Israel and Hezbollah since October 7, with the cycle of violence triggered by Hamas's mass killings inside Israel and then the Israeli military operations killing more than 41,000 people in Gaza.

Hezbollah has vowed to respond to an Israeli attack that killed multiple people and injured thousands across Lebanon on Tuesday when pagers belonging to members of the Iran-backed militant group exploded almost simultaneously,

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 explosions triggered in wireless devices.

Amid Israel’s effort to return tens of thousands of its citizens to their homes in the north, the Jewish state reportedly launched an operation to knock out Hezbollah’s infrastructure in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health minister said exploding devices across the country injured almost 2,800 people and killed nine, including a child.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, CNN’s Jim Sciutto and CNN’s John Miller join The lead

Among those wounded in the pager blasts on Tuesday was Iran's ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani, with Iranian media reporting he suffered injuries “to the hand and the face”.