Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the country has begun a “new phase in the war” against Hezbollah in the aftermath of two separate electronic warfare attacks that left thousands injured in Lebanon.
At least 20 people have been killed and more than 3,000 injured after Israel was able to sabotage and detonate thousands of hand-held communication devices used by Hezbollah fighters in separate attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Israel has not explicitly taken credit for the attacks, though it was quickly viewed as the most likely culprit given its conflict and the elaborate nature of the plot. The United States quickly denied any involvement.
“We are at the start of a new phase in the war — we are allocating resources and forces to the northern arena and our mission is clear: ensuring the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” Gallant said Wednesday. “To do so, the security situation must be changed.”
Hezbollah is based in Lebanon and it operates in the southern part of the country, in violation of a United Nations resolution, along the border with Israel. The threat from Hezbollah is primarily to northern Israel, though the group is believed to have the military capabilities to hit targets anywhere in the country if the two declared a full-scale war.
Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in a limited conflict that has primarily involved cross-border rocket and missile attacks for nearly a year. Leaders from both sides have threatened to escalate the conflict if provoked while avoiding doing just that.
The beeper attacks are the latest operation from one side that threatens to draw both into a full-scale war. In late July, a Hezbollah rocket killed 12 teenagers in Golan Heights, and days later, Israel carried out an audacious strike in Beirut targeting the senior leader, Fuad Shukr, whom officials said was responsible for the deadly strike 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. United Nations 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, the terrorist group primarily located in the Gaza Strip. Hamas carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel’s history on Oct. 7, 2023, when thousands of fighters surged into southern Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people and kidnapping approximately 250 others.
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As Israel responded to the attack with a ground invasion of Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel. At the time, Israel decided to evacuate more than 50,000 people from northern Israel due to concerns that Hezbollah could carry out a cross-border raid like Hamas did, and those people remain displaced from their homes.
The return of tens of thousands of Israelis to their homes in northern Israel is a main goal for Israeli officials, as Gallant said.