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.

At least 12 people were killed, including an 11-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, and more than 2,700 people injured in the coordinated explosions of pagers that belonged to Hezbollah members. A day later,

Hundreds of pagers carried by Hezbollah members blew up nearly simultaneously in an attack that tops a series of covert assassinations and cyber-attacks in the region.