On Tuesday, the US said it was not aware in advance and had no involvement in the mass explosions as it urged restraint by Iran.

“I can tell you that the US was not involved in it, the US was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, we’re gathering information,” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, told reporters. “We would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident to try to add further instability and to further increase tensions in the region.”

Residents of three Israeli towns near the Lebanese border were asked to stay near bomb shelters shortly after the attacks in Lebanon because of the “unique security situation”.

The Foreign Office on Tuesday night called for “calm heads and de-escalation”.

A UN spokesman said the developments in Lebanon were extremely concerning, especially given the “extremely volatile” situation in the Middle East.

Mr Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his defence minister, held discussions at the defence ministry’s HQ at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv about how Israel should respond to a potential escalation by Hezbollah.

The prime minister said on Sunday that the “current situation” in the north, with daily attacks from Hezbollah, “will not continue”, adding: “This requires a change in the balance of forces on our northern border.”

Mr Gallant informed Lloyd Austin, his American counterpart, that hopes for a diplomatic solution were dwindling and a full-scale war was looming, blaming Hezbollah’s ongoing position of “tying itself” to Hamas.

“The trajectory is clear,” said Mr Gallant, indicating that Israel would have to go to war with Hezbollah to end the rocket and drone attacks. He had previously warned Hezbollah that Israel would take Lebanon “back to the Stone Age” in the event of a full-blown war.