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.

Two days of attacks widely blamed on Israel targeted thousands of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies, and have heightened fears that nearly a year of near-daily exchanges of fire

Hezbollah admits Israel dealt a severe blow with exploding pagers and walkie talkies, but neither side seems to heed U.S. calls to avoid a wider war.

The Israeli military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday, shortly before the movement's leader was due to give a speech. It also said the military chief of staff had approved plans for Israel's north,

The absence of a full-blown war in Lebanon has been touted as a core U.S. achievement, but now Washington’s grip on the crisis appears more tenuous than ever.

The powerful Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah continued to strike what it called military targets in northern Israel Thursday after thousands of its members were injured and several killed in what appeared to be an Israeli operation using exploding pagers and other communication devices.

U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon urged immediate de-escalation as hostilities rumbled on at the Lebanese-Israeli border on Friday, following Israel's most intense airstrikes in nearly a year of conflict with the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Hezbollah launches 140 missiles into northern Israel in 3 strikes, damage not immediately known.