Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant did say on Wednesday, however, that his country's war with Iran's so-called proxy groups in the region had entered a "new phase," announcing a shift to the north of Israel after 11 months of intense conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The leader of Hezbollah vowed to retaliate for this week’s deadly attacks on the group’s communications devices

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Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes across southern Lebanon today, one of the most intense bombardments in the country this year. The strikes came hours after Hezbollah’s leader vowed that “retribution will come” to Israel for the explosions of Hezbollah members’ hand-held devices.

The source of Wednesday’s explosions was not immediately clear but the blasts came a day after thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah blew up across Lebanon.

Israel launched a series of strikes on Hezbollah targets Thursday as the war against the Lebanon-based group widened in the wake of two consecutive days of deadly explosions triggered in wireless devices.

Hassan Nasrallah refused to say when or how Hezbollah would take revenge. As he spoke, Israeli fighter jets swooped low over Beirut.