Hezbollah admits Israel dealt a severe blow with exploding pagers and walkie talkies, but neither side seems to heed U.S. calls to avoid a wider war.

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.

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.