Lebanon’s death toll from a series of walkie-talkie and pager explosions this week rose to 37, according to local authorities, an illustration of the devastation wrought by a wave of suspected Israeli attacks aimed at Hezbollah militants.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon urged de-escalation on Friday after a big increase in hostilities at the Lebanese-Israeli border, where Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire for almost a year.

U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon urged immediate de-escalation as hostilities rumbled on at the Lebanese-Israeli border on Friday, following Israel's most intense airstrikes in nearly a year of conflict with the Iran-backed Hezbollah.