Israel and Hezbollah have been stuck in the tit-for-tat horror of escalation chicken for nearly a year. But over the past week Israel has clearly decided to massively amplify its attacks on the Iran-backed militant group,

Exploding pagers, a major Israeli strike in Beirut and Hezbollah attacks deep inside Israel have brought the two sides closer than they’ve been in years to a full-scale war.

More than 270 people have been killed and 1,000 injured in intense Israeli air strikes across Lebanon, the country’s health minister says, after Israel warned it was “deepening” its attacks on the armed group Hezbollah.