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.

Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was slightly injured on Tuesday by the explosion of an electronic pager, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported, as numerous such devices exploded across Lebanon.

Israel warned U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a call that a military operation was going to take place in Lebanon but gave no details, U.S. officials said.