The reported Israeli attack on Hezbollah members through their pagers marks a troubling escalation, pushing the Middle East closer to a potential regional war. If confirmed, Hezbollah may feel compelled to retaliate, backed by the Iran-led Axis of Resistance.

Two sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters this year that Hezbollah members had been using pagers as a low-risk means of communication to evade Israel’s location tracking. The devices are also cheaper than mobile phones.

Moreover, unlike smartphones, which can be used to send and receive text messages or images, pagers cannot transmit any content outside the device’s range, making it almost impossible for an intelligence agency to spy on Hezbollah communications. The device’s cellular capability only extends to the local area, which is why many of the pager explosions in Lebanon occurred at homes and businesses.

The Lebanese health ministry on Tuesday said that 12 Hezbollah members were killed and more than 2,750 people wounded in the pager explosions. An official with Hezbollah’s media arm, Al-Manar, vowed revenge for the slayings and injuries of Hezbollah fighters, including those in hospitals. The explosions “will leave a deep wound in the hearts of Hezbollah and all its supporters and will awaken a new spirit of vengeance in the party and its institutions,” the official added.

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Several experts have suggested that Mossad agents hacked into the pager supply chain to build explosive devices into them before their delivery to Hezbollah and then remotely triggered them simultaneously. The AP quotes one of them as saying that each device has five main components: a container, a battery, a triggering device, and an explosive charge.

Hezbollah has a long history of using booby traps to kill and maim Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank, Gaza, and Lebanon. Customary international humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby traps in objects that are likely to be attracted or associated with civilian daily use so as not to place civilian lives at grave risk. The explosions in Lebanon were a violation of this law.

The pager attack may lead to a more prominent offensive, especially as Hezbollah is already preparing for such an escalation. The group has raised its level of military readiness and is transferring its resources to the northern arena, where it can best defend itself against Israeli aggression.

In its statement, Hezbollah says, “Israel must know that if it continues to escalate its aggression along the border, Hezbollah will respond with an unprecedented revenge that will leave it in ruins.” The United States needs to help prevent a bloody war in Lebanon from spiraling out of control. It must insist that Israel withdraw its forces from the country and cease all military activity in Lebanon. This is the only way to defuse tensions and avert a conflict that could threaten the whole region. The Obama administration has been slow to push Israel to do so, but the time to act is now.