Israeli PM Netanyahu says we will return residents of the north to their homes

By James Mackenzie

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to return tens of thousands of residents evacuated from northern border areas to their homes, amid mounting tensions with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.

In a brief video statement, Netanyahu made no mention of the operation that remotely detonated thousands of pagers and hand-held radio devices used by operatives of Hezbollah, which has blamed the attack on Israel.

"We will return the residents of the north securely to their homes," he said in a brief video statement, giving no further details.

In separate remarks, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said more forces were being sent to the northern border, where Israel has been exchanging daily fire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah for months, as the war moved into a new phase.

"The 'centre of gravity' is moving north, meaning that we are allocating forces, resources and energy for the northern arena," he said in remarks released by his office.

The comments, which echo similar remarks by numerous senior Israeli politicians and military commanders over recent weeks, come as Israeli sources with knowledge of the matter said the army had moved its 98th Division, which includes commando and paratrooper formations, from Gaza to the north.

Israeli officials have not commented on the attacks on the Hezbollah communications devices over the past two days, which have killed more than 20 people and wounded thousands, but security sources have said Israel's spy agency Mossad was responsible.

The operations, which have appeared to throw Hezbollah into disarray, have heightened fears of an escalation in the fighting along Israel's border with southern Lebanon with the risk of a full-blown regional war.

The fighting along the northern border has been going on for almost a year in the shadow of the war in Gaza, which began last year with the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Islamist movement Hamas. The day after Hamas gunmen stormed through communities in southern Israel, Hezbollah launched a barrage in the north and there has been a near-daily exchange of fire between the two sides without ever tipping over into all-out war.

On Wednesday, Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi held an assessment with commanders in the northern sector and approved defensive and offensive plans in the sector.

"We still have many capabilities that we have not yet activated," he said in remarks to commanders that were released by the military.

"The rule is that every time we work on a certain stage, the next two stages are already ready to advance. At each stage, the price for Hezbollah must be high."

(Reporting by James Mackenzie and Emily Rose; Editing by Alex Richardson and Deepa Babington)