A day later, a similar attack struck walkie-talkies. In total, the explosions killed at least 37 people and injured more than 3,000, many of them civilians. Israel is widely believed to be behind the blasts, although it has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.

One Hezbollah official said the episode was the biggest security breach in the group's history. The operations, which appeared to throw Hezbollah into disarray, played out alongside Israel's 11-month-old war in Gaza and heightened fears of an escalation on its Lebanese border and the risk of a full-blown regional war.