Gallant announces ‘new phase of war’ after pager operation

At least 20 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured when Hezbollah militants sabotaged and detonated thousands of portable communication devices in separate attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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Israel has not explicitly claimed responsibility for the attacks, though it was quickly identified as the most likely culprit, given the conflict and the complex nature of the plot. The United States quickly denied any involvement.

“We are at the beginning of a new phase of the war — we are devoting resources and forces to the northern arena, and our mission is clear: to ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” Gallant said Wednesday. “To do that, the security situation must change.”

Hezbollah is based in Lebanon and operates in the southern part of the country, in violation of a United Nations resolution, along the border with Israel. The Hezbollah threat is primarily directed at northern Israel, although the group is believed to have the military capability to strike targets anywhere in the country if both sides were to declare a full-scale war.

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in a limited conflict that has mostly involved cross-border rocket and missile attacks for almost a year. Leaders on both sides have threatened to escalate the conflict if provoked, while avoiding doing so.

The beeper attacks are the latest by one side to threaten to drag both sides into a full-blown war. In late July, a Hezbollah rocket killed 12 teenagers in the Golan Heights, and days later Israel carried out a brazen attack in Beirut that targeted a senior leader, Fouad Shukr, who officials say was responsible for a deadly attack days earlier.

There is speculation that Tuesday and Wednesday’s operations could be a prelude to an Israeli escalation and possibly an Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that “the logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a preemptive strike before a major military operation” and described it as “an indication that this event confirms that there is a serious risk of a dramatic escalation in Lebanon.”

Iran supports both Hezbollah and Hamas, a terrorist group based primarily in the Gaza Strip. Hamas carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history on October 7, 2023, when thousands of militants entered southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 others.

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When Israel responded to the attack with a ground invasion of Gaza, Hezbollah began to fire rockets into northern Israel. At the time, Israel decided to evacuate over 50,000 people from northern Israel due to fears that Hezbollah could conduct a cross-border raid, as Hamas did, and these people remain displaced from their homes.

The main goal of the Israeli authorities is to return tens of thousands of Israelis to their homes in northern Israel, Gallant said.