Amid fears of an expanding war in the Middle East following mass detentions of bombs surreptitiously planted in Hezbollah communication devices, Israel continued its assault of the Iran-backed militia overnight.

Beirut has warned the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is out of control as Israel signalled a new era of the war.Lebanese economy minister Amin Salam said the last week had been “very intense” for Lebanon and said escalation of the conflict by the hour was likely.