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 deadly explosions triggered in wireless devices.

Lebanon’s death toll from a series of walkie-talkie and pager explosions this week rose to 37, according to local authorities, an illustration of the devastation wrought by a wave of suspected Israeli attacks against Hezbollah militants.

Israeli forces late Thursday carried out their most intense strike on southern Lebanon in nearly one year of war, increasing tensions between the two countries despite international calls for calm. In the operation,