Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war after Hezbollah pager attacks

The IDF is moving forces toward Lebanon, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said

Israel is shifting its military strength north to focus on Hezbollah, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday, after thousands of pagers and radios belonging to the Lebanese paramilitary group were detonated in an apparent Israeli operation.

Speaking to troops at the Ramat David Airbase near Haifa, Gallant said that “a new phase” of Israel’s almost year-long war was beginning, this one focused on Hezbollah rather than Hamas.

“The center of gravity is moving north. We are diverting forces, resources, and energy toward the north,” he said, according to a statement published on social media by his office. 

Hezbollah has waged a low-intensity military campaign against Israel since the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began bombing Gaza almost a year ago. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has said that his goal is to tie up Israeli forces near the Israel-Lebanon border in order to prevent their deployment to Gaza, but Israeli officials – including Gallant – have threatened on multiple occasions to launch a major offensive into Lebanon in response.

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Less than two months ago, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that the Jewish state was preparing for “all out war” with Hezbollah, adding that he would “not go into detail” about the “disproportionate” strike that would open such a war.

The strike apparently came on Tuesday, when thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah members spontaneously detonated across Lebanon, killing at least a dozen people, including two children, and wounding around 3,000 others. A second wave of explosions took place on Wednesday, this time targeting handheld walkie-talkies. Wednesday’s blasts killed at least 14 people and injured nearly 500.

While Israeli officials have not commented on the explosions, Lebanese, Israeli and American sources have all identified Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency as the culprit. According to US and Israeli sources interviewed by Axios, Mossad rigged thousands of the communications devices to blow, intending to remotely trigger the explosions as the first blow in a full-scale war with Hezbollah.

Mossad decided to detonate the devices early in case the explosive charges were discovered and the plan foiled, an American official told Axios.

While Gallant and other Israeli officials have threatened to step up their campaign against Hezbollah on several occasions in recent months, the minister’s comments on Wednesday were backed by action, as the IDF’s 98th Division was redeployed from Gaza to northern Israel earlier in the day.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it holds “the Israeli enemy fully responsible” for the pager attacks, and promised a “difficult reckoning” for Israel in response.