Live Updates: Walkie-talkie, pager attacks in Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets

Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system over northern Israel on August 4.

Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful Iranian-backed paramilitary group in Lebanon, have been at odds for decades, but since last October, when the war in Gaza began, the two countries have stepped up their cross-border attacks on each other.

This week’s events in Lebanon, where two deadly attacks involving explosives planted in wireless devices belonging to Hezbollah fighters, have further focused attention on the long-simmering conflict.

Israel’s defense minister says a “new era” of war is beginning and “the center of gravity is shifting to the north,” referring to the country’s border with Lebanon. Hezbollah’s leader says the attacks on wireless devices “crossed all red lines” and has hinted at possible retaliation.

So we have arrived at this point:

A ‘supportive front’ for Gaza: Hezbollah is part of a larger Iranian-led axis in the Middle East that includes Yemen, Syria, Gaza and Iraq. Over the past decade, Hezbollah has increasingly clashed with Israel and its allies.

The axis has said it will continue to attack Israeli targets as long as the war in Gaza continues, and has portrayed itself as a “supportive front” for Palestinians in the Strip, as a senior Hezbollah leader described it.

Assassination of important leader: After months of hostile fighting, tensions rose further when Israel said it had killed Hezbollah’s top military commander in a strike on Beirut, Lebanon, in late July.

Israel holds commander Fu’ad Shukr responsible for a deadly attack on the Israeli-occupied town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights. Hezbollah denies responsibility.

In retaliation, Hezbollah fired more than 300 drones and missiles at targets in Israel on August 25. Israel denied that any significant targets were attacked, and no evidence has been made public to contradict this denial.

Displaced residents: The increase in cross-border fighting has forced people to flee their homes in both northern Israel and southern Lebanon.

On Tuesday, Israel made it a new war goal to send tens of thousands of northern Israelis back to their homes near the border. Officials and residents of the northern region have been increasingly pressuring the Israeli government about the need for the return.

Meanwhile, more than 100,000 people have been displaced in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Hezbollah’s Arsenal: Hezbollah is considered the most heavily armed non-state group in the world. While it is no match for Israel’s military might, the group’s increasingly sophisticated arsenal has the potential to inflict significant damage.

Yet Hezbollah has been cornered by Israel’s latest attacks, and its credibility as Iran’s best-equipped, best-trained and most disciplined vassal is now at risk, writes CNN’s Ben Wedeman.