The order,to shut down for 45 days,marks the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country.
It was the first such Israeli attack on Lebanon’s capital in months and came shortly after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets.
The barrage followed two days of attacks blamed on Mossad that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers,killing 37 people and wounding about 3000.
But some “think we are closer to a regional war than we have been at any time in the last 11 months”.
In addition to exploding electronic devices,Israel has moved a powerful fighting force up of thousands of troops to the northern border.
The Israeli government did not tamper with the Hezbollah pagers that exploded,defence and intelligence officials say. It manufactured them as part of a ruse.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 20 people had been killed and 450 injured on a second day of blasts,this time involving “made in Japan” walkie-talkies.
With its explosive devices distributed to Hezbollah,Israel had the luxury of waiting for exactly the right moment to detonate them.
A Hungarian government spokesman said the pagers were never in Hungary and that BAC Consultants merely acted as an intermediary.
These are the towns and villages Israel wants back for its people.
The explosions killed nine people and wounding nearly 3000 others,including Hezbollah’s fighters and Iran’s envoy to Beirut.