Hezbollah said it targeted military production facilities and an air base in northern Israel on Sunday in an "initial response" to the pager and walkie-talkies explosions and in response to Israeli attacks that killed civilians in various parts of Lebanon.

"In an initial response" to the explosions of pagers and two-way radios on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hezbollah "bombed the Rafael military industry complexes" north of Haifa with "dozens" of Katyusha, Fadi-1 and Fadi-2 rockets, the group said.

The Israeli military said dozens of warplanes were striking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon late Saturday, as cross-border exchanges intensify amid growing fears of all-out war.

Israeli warplanes carried out dozens of airstrikes on areas across south Lebanon and West Bekaa on Saturday, as Hezbollah rockets targeted north Israel and reached Safad.

Hezbollah said it fired salvos of Katyusha rockets at five Israeli military positions in northern Israel and another in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, as the Israeli army said it was striking “Hezbollah targets” in south Lebanon.

A former Lebanese diplomat accused of being a financier for Hezbollah has pleaded guilty to evading U.S. financial sanctions against him and his organization, branded as "terrorist" by the U.S. government.

Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N., has said that the UK is working to de-escalate and end the cycle of violence in Middle East, during a U.N. Security Council meeting on the latest developments in the region.

"This past year has seen continuous and devastating violence across the region. Civilians have suffered on a dreadful scale on both sides of the Blue Line. The explosions in Lebanon this week and Israel’s strike in southern Beirut today are the latest in a deadly cycle of violence, and we are deeply concerned by civilian casualties resulting from those incidents. That children were among them is particularly distressing. Our condolences go to the families of the civilians killed," Kariuki said.

Iran's foreign ministry has condemned an Israeli air strike in Beirut's southern suburbs that killed a top commander of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah and several others as an attempt to broaden the war in Gaza.

The United Nations said Friday the detonation of hand-held communication devices in Lebanon could constitute a war crime as Lebanon's top diplomat accused Israel of orchestrating what he called a "terror" attack.

Hezbollah said Saturday that a second senior commander was among 16 fighters killed in an Israeli air strike on its Beirut stronghold the previous day, highlighting the scale of the blow to its military leadership.

Israel said Friday's strike on the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital killed the head of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, Ibrahim Akil, and several other commanders.

The woman whose company was linked to thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria this week is under the protection of the Hungarian secret services, her mother told The Associated Press on Friday.

Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono has not appeared publicly since the deadly simultaneous attack that targeted Hezbollah on Tuesday and that has been widely blamed on Israel. She is listed as the CEO of Budapest-based BAC Consulting, which the Taiwanese trademark holder of the pagers said was responsible for the manufacture of the devices.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday he was working to allow people to return to their homes on the Israeli-Lebanon border, in his first comments since a wave of explosions targeting the Hezbollah militia sent tensions soaring.

Biden added that it was crucial to keep pushing for a Gaza ceasefire to underpin regional peace, despite a media report that his administration had given up hope of securing a truce before he leaves office in January.