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

Following the deadly blasts, Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah vowed to punish Israel for a deadly attack and said that Israel "will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression".

When streams of bloodied people converged on Lebanon's hospitals on Tuesday, it was a test of whether the crisis-hit health sector could cope with a mass casualty event like what could be expected in a wider war with Israel.

If we assume, as virtually all observers do, that Israel was behind Tuesday's astonishing mass pager attack on the ranks of Hezbollah, what does it tell us about what Israel is thinking? In the absence of any official Israeli comment,

Plus: Polling from the nonpartisan World Justice Project on whether or not Americans will accept election results. Jordan Chiles' medal appeal.

Hezbollah threatened Israel after thousands of its members’ pagers exploded across Lebanon, killing 12. Israel has not commented on whether it was responsible.

Israel Defense Forces on Thursday said it carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah sites in Lebanon, just days after a deadly wave of explosions around Beirut.