Israel bombed southern Lebanon on Thursday and said it had thwarted an Iran-backed assassination plot, a day after explosions of Hezbollah radios followed blasts in booby trapped pagers, setting the foes hurtling towards war.

Amid Israel’s effort to return tens of thousands of its citizens to their homes in the north, the Jewish state reportedly launched an operation to knock out Hezbollah’s infrastructure in Lebanon.

Hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated Wednesday across Lebanon’s south in the country’s deadliest day since cross-border fighting erupted between the militants and Israel.