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.

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.

However there is a potentially serious strategic downside for Israel, because while this humiliates the powerful Lebanese militia and political movement, it doesn’t deter them. And it doesn’t get closer to Israel’s strategic aim of stopping Hezbollah’s attacks and allowing the more than 60,

In both cases the devices were used by members of Hizbullah, the Shia militia that has fired rockets at Israel for almost a year. Some 20 people were killed and 450 injured in the latest attack, on top of at least 12 killed and nearly 3,

For years Hezbollah was seen as the world’s premiere non-state actor: the well-equipped, well-trained, well-led, highly disciplined and secretive jewel in the crown of Iran’s allies across the Middle East.

The wave of exploding pagers that injured nearly 3,000 and killed at least nine, including a 9-year-old girl, in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday was a stunning and unexpected blow against Israel’s longtime foe,