"This is our nation together. We live in dignity together, and we build its sovereignty together - or Lebanon will have no life if you stand on the other side and try to confront us and eliminate us," its leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech.

Airstrikes come as Hezbollah threatens civil war if Lebanon tries to disarm it; Lebanese PM says threats unacceptable, Beirut will do whatever is necessary for peace and stability

Lebanon had been hoping this summer would see the return of tens of thousands of expats and tourists to the crisis-hit Mediterranean nation, spending money in resorts and restaurants and attending festivals such as a famed one in an ancient Roman city.