Pagers and walkie-talkies detonated by Israel exploded as their users were shopping in supermarkets, walking on streets and attending funerals, plunging the country into panic.

The Israeli blasts killed at least 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 on Tuesday and Wednesday targeted communication devices.

"International humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby-trap devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects," the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, told the Security Council during an emergency session on Lebanon requested by Algeria.

"It is a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians," he added, repeating his call for an "independent, rigorous and transparent" investigation.

Lebanese authorities said the targeted devices were booby-trapped before they entered the country.

Hezbollah has vowed retribution and launched its own internal probe into the explosions.

"I am appalled by the breadth and impact of the attacks," said Turk.

"These attacks represent a new development in warfare, where communication tools become weapons," he added.

"This cannot be the new normal."

Speaking at the Security Council, Lebanon's top diplomat Abdallah Bou Habib called the attack "an unprecedented method of warfare in its brutality and terror."

"Israel, through this terrorist aggression has violated the basic principles of international humanitarian law," he said, calling Israel a "rogue state."

'Diplomatic efforts'

 

Israel has not commented on the device blasts but has said it will widen the scope of its brutal war on Gaza to include the Lebanon front.

When asked about the device explosions in civilian-packed areas, Israel's ambassador to the UN Danny Danon told reporters on Friday "we will do everything we can to target" Hezbollah.

He spoke after Israel announced it had killed the commander of Hezbollah's elite unit in a strike on Beirut on Friday.

"We have no intention to enter a war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, but we cannot continue the way it is," Danon said despite the major escalation.

Speaking at the Security Council, Danon said Israel will do "whatever it takes" to restore security in northern areas.

"If Hezbollah does not retreat from our border... through diplomatic efforts, Israel will be left with no choice but to use any means within our rights," he said.

However, Israel's continued escalations continues to cast doubt on the promise to return Israelis to the north.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari on Friday warned residents in northern Israel to stay alert, after the chain of escalations with Hezbollah casting doubt on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's promise to restore security to the northern front with Lebanon.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the body was "very concerned about the heightened escalation" across the Lebanon-Israel frontier after Friday's Israeli strike on Beirut.

He called for "maximum restraint" from all sides.

Lebanon's Hezbollah has been targeting Israeli army sites to press Israel to halt its war on Gaza, now approaching its 12th month.

Israel's relentless bombardment and ground invasion have killed at least 41,272 people in Gaza. The UN Human Rights office says most of the dead are women and children.

In near-daily clashes along its northern border, Israel has killed hundreds in Lebanon, including civilians. On the other side, dozens have been killed in Israel, many of them soldiers.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.