'Very serious escalation': Lebanese ministers warn of a dangerous next 48 hours after pager and device attacks

• Lebanon's leadership warned that the risk of further violence and escalation is extremely high following two days of attacks involving exploding communications devices across the country.
• Hezbollah called the act an "Israeli aggression"; Israel, meanwhile, has not commented on the blasts.
• The next 48 hours, Lebanon's health and economy ministers told CNBC, will be particularly dangerous.

Lebanon's leadership warned that the risk of further violence and escalation is extremely high following two days of attacks involving exploding communications devices across the country.

The next 48 hours, ministers told CNBC Thursday, will be particularly dangerous.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, thousands of communications devices — including pagers and two-way radios — used by members of Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exploded in an apparent widespread act of sabotage, killing at least 37 people and injuring at least 3,000 more.

Hezbollah called the act an "Israeli aggression"; Israel, meanwhile, has not commented on the blasts. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was among those injured, while a son of a Hezbollah member of parliament was killed in the attack. Children were also among those killed.

"It's definitely a very serious escalation. I don't see any act of escalation that will not lead to provocation, and that is what we fear most, because what happened yesterday will only trigger more escalation into the conflict," Lebanon's Minister of Economy Amin Salam told CNBC's Dan Murphy on Thursday.

"This will be a really, very, very dangerous ... 48 hours that this country will witness to see how the reaction will be."

Hezbollah, the Shia organization that also dominates a large swathe of Lebanon's politics, is