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.

Israel had a hand in the actual manufacturing of the pagers that exploded on Hezbollah operatives this week, an attack that was in planning for at least 15 years.

An ambulance carrying wounded people whose handheld pager exploded arrive Tuesday at American University hospital in Beirut, Lebanon.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ushered in what he called a “new phase” in the war with regional Islamist groups and said troops would be diverted to the Lebanese border, an indication that long-held fears of a wider conflict may soon be realized.

Lebanese officials say more handheld devices exploded a day after thousands of pagers carried by Hezbollah members blew up in an attack blamed on Israel.