Thanks for joining us for a third day of coverage on the unfolding Israel-Lebanon conflict. We'll leave the blog here but the ABC's team is staying across any further updates as they come in.

In summary: 

• Hezbollah's leader Hasran Nasrallah has said Israel will receive a "just punishment" after it was suspected of orchestrating mass detonations of communication devices including radios and pagers across Lebanon that killed 37 people.
• A group of independent UN experts have condemned the pager and hand-held radio explosions across Lebanon this week as a "terrifying violation" of international law.
• The Israeli military said it has taken out hundreds of Hezbollah's rocket launchers after an aerial campaign on southern Lebanon.
  
• A preliminary investigation by Lebanese authorities found that the devices were implanted with explosives before arriving in the country, according to a letter sent to the UN Security Council by Lebanon's mission to the United Nations.
  
• European leaders, including those of France and Spain, condemned the device detonations and called for calm in the region.
  
• The US said a ceasefire deal to end Israel's invasion of Gaza, following the October 7 attacks, would "lower the temperature" in the region. 
  

You can look back on the day's developments below, or download the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest updates.

Here's a wrap of the day's events, including footage of Hassan Nasrallah's speech condemning Israel for allegedly carrying out the deadly pager and radio attacks.

A host of airlines have cancelled or suspended flights in recent days to cities in the Middle East including Beirut and Tehran as fighting along the Israel-Lebanese border ramps up.

Airlines including Air France, Lufthansa and Swiss temporarily suspended flights to Israel following the incident.

US airline Delta has suspended all direct flights between New York and Tel Aviv for the rest of the year.

AFP

A group of independent UN experts have condemned the pager and hand-held radio explosions across Lebanon this week as a "terrifying violation" of international law.

“These attacks violate the human right to life, absent any indication that the victims posed an imminent lethal threat to anyone else at the time,” the 22 experts, including special rapporteur on human rights Ben Saul, said. 

“Such attacks require prompt, independent investigation to establish the truth and enable accountability for the crime of murder."

The statement notes the devices were mainly carried by Hezbollah members, but there was no way of knowing who had them at the time of detonation and who was nearby.

“Simultaneous attacks by thousands of devices would inevitably violate humanitarian law, by failing to verify each target, and distinguish between protected civilians and those who could potentially be attacked for taking a direct part in hostilities."

Such attacks could constitute war crimes, the UN group said.

Hezbollah is one of the world's most heavily armed non-state groups, backed by the Iranian government, and has been trading fire with the Israeli military for almost a year. 

Here's what we know about their military capability:

Thousands of people on both sides of the border have evacuated in recent months as more and more rocket and missile fire is exchanged by Hezbollah and the Lebanese military. Some chose to remain, such as residents in the town of Nahariya pictured below.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefed reporters in Washington DC earlier on the unfolding Lebanon-Israel conflict.

She said the US believed a ceasefire deal to end Israel's invasion of Gaza, following the October 7 attacks, would "lower the temperature" in the region. 

Gaza is controlled by the militant group Hamas, which has close ties with Hezbollah.

Ms Jean-Pierre said a diplomatic solution to the crisis was "achievable and urgent". 

While the blasts in Lebanon have been leading news bulletins this week, the Israeli invasion of Gaza grinds on as the IDF attempts to remove militant group Hamas (aligned with Hezbollah) from power in the territory.

On Thursday, a UN committee accused Israel of severe breaches of a global treaty protecting children's rights, saying its military actions in Gaza had a catastrophic impact on them and are among the worst violations in recent history.

Palestinian health authorities say 41,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military campaign in response to cross-border attacks by Hamas on October 7 where 1,200 were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Of those killed in Gaza, at least 11,355 are children, Palestinian data shows, and thousands more are injured.

"The outrageous death of children is almost historically unique. This is an extremely dark place in history," Bragi Gudbrandsson, vice chair of the committee, told reporters.

"I don't think we have seen before, a violation that is so massive, as we are seeing in Gaza now ... These are extremely grave violations that we do not often see," he said.

Israel, which ratified the treaty in 1991, accused the committee of having a "politically-driven agenda", in a statement sent by its diplomatic mission in Geneva.

Reporting with Reuters

Some images across AP and Reuters show the aftermath of the deadly attacks on Lebanon's Hezbollah group, which killed 37 people including two children.

If you're looking for some background on the Lebanese militant group and political party Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the Australian government, we've got this explainer below: