Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has released his first statement since a twin set of bombings that targeted communication devices used by the armed group Hezbollah. He didn't directly address the deadly bombings of pagers and walkie-talkies but the cryptic 10-second clip in Hebrew simply said that the people of northern Israel will be able to return to their homes safely.

Explosions continued Wednesday in Lebanon, killing at least 20 people. The Lebanese government and Hezbollah blame Israel for the apparently coordinated attack. Israel’s defense minister said they are “at the start of a new phase in the war.

Hezbollah turned to low-tech pagers to avoid cellphone tracking by Israeli intelligence. Who else uses pagers, and why?

Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Hamas - which is also backed by Iran and proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel and many Western countries - and will only stop its attacks once the fighting in Gaza ends.

The Institute for the Study of War said the attacks will impact Hezbollah's communications ability and could cause paranoia.

Hezbollah threatened Israel after thousands of its members’ pagers exploded across Lebanon, killing 12. Israel has not commented on whether it was responsible.

If we assume, as virtually all observers do, that Israel was behind Tuesday's astonishing mass pager attack on the ranks of Hezbollah, what does it tell us about what Israel is thinking? In the absence of any official Israeli comment,