Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to address the nation later on Thursday. Israel’s defence minister announced a “new phase” of the conflict.

In attacks widely blamed on Israel, hundreds of walkie-talkies exploded in Lebanon on Wednesday, a day after thousands of pagers did the same.

Just as the nation began to grapple with the aftermath of the pager explosions, another wave of destruction struck on September 18. Walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated in southern Beirut and other regions known as “Hezbollah strongholds”.

The latest attack comes a day after thousands of pagers exploded, with investigations into Tuesday’s detonations pointing to explosives planted in devices by Israel.

Explosions went off in Beirut and multiple parts of Lebanon in an apparent second wave of detonations of electronic devices, officials said.

Israel’s defense minister has declared the start of a “new phase” of the war as Israel turns its focus toward the northern front against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday,

A second deadly wave of unprecedented explosions in the strongholds of Lebanon's Hezbollah left it in disarray on Thursday, hours before a major speech by its beleaguered leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The attacks, which were widely believed to be carried out by Israel targeting Hezbollah, have hiked fears that the two sides’ simmering conflict could escalate into all-out war.

The usually busy streets of Beirut's southern suburbs were almost deserted on Wednesday, after a new wave of explosions hit walkie-talkies carried by members of the Shiite Hezbollah militia. According to the Health Ministry,