A wave of deadly explosions of pagers and other electronic devices carried by militants in Lebanon has sharply heightened Pentagon concern about a potential ground war erupting in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israel’s leaders have announced that the focus of the war is now shifting northwards from Gaza to Lebanon. This follows a lightening bolt delivered to the Hezbollah terror army in which dozens of terrorists were killed and over 3,

By Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli warplanes carried out late on Thursday their most intense strikes on southern Lebanon in nearly a year of war, heightening the conflict between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah amid calls for restraint.

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.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will speak in Egypt on Wednesday after Israel's pager bombing operation killed several people in Lebanon.

The Israeli military launched a new wave of strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday, after two days of device explosions that left the Middle East fearing all-out war.

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.