JERUSALEM

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday a "new phase" of the war in the Gaza Strip has begun.

“We are at the start of a new phase in the war -- it requires courage, determination and perseverance,” Gallant told troops in the northern city of Haifa.

"The center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces," he said.

Gallant did not refer to recent explosions of electronic devices in Lebanon but he praised the work of the military and security agencies and said that "the results are very impressive."

He claimed the purpose of the offensive in the north was to ensure that citizens who had been evacuated could safely return, adding that the government had not forgotten about Israeli captives in Gaza.

In the past 24 hours across Lebanon, after explosions in pagers, similar blasts have occurred Wednesday in radios.

While Lebanese officials hold Israel responsible for the explosions, there was no comment from Israel on the pager blasts, but Hezbollah vowed to retaliate against Israel.

The pager blasts came amid mounting border escalation between Israel and the Lebanese resistance group, which have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Tel Aviv’s onslaught against Gaza, which has killed more than 41,200 victims, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack last October.

*Writing by Serdar Dincel