Israel warned US a Lebanon operation was coming but gave no details – officials

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin spoke several times to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant (Kevin Wolf/AP)

Israel warned US defence secretary Lloyd Austin in a call on Tuesday that a military operation was going to take place in Lebanon but gave no details, US officials said.

The same day as the call, in an attack widely blamed on Israel, thousands of pagers belonging to Hezbollah militants exploded.