The absence of a full-blown war in Lebanon has been touted as a core U.S. achievement, but now Washington’s grip on the crisis appears more tenuous than ever.

Israel launched one of its most intense bombardments against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon this year Thursday, hours after the militant group’s leader condemned deadly twin attacks that he said crossed “all the red lines.

Israel said it pounded Lebanon's Hezbollah, just hours after the group's leader vowed retribution for deadly explosions that targeted its communication devices, killing 37 people and wounding thousands.

The Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, did not say how his group would respond to attacks on hand-held devices, which killed dozens when pagers and walkie-talkies exploded.

Lebanon and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday that killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, although Israel has not directly commented on the attacks, which security sources say were probably carried out by its Mossad spy agency.

The IDF said the targets were ready to be used “in the immediate future” to fire into Israeli territory. (Credit: IDF)

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, just as the militant group’s leader said two days of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies amounted to a declaration of war.