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The war in Gaza always had the capacity to spread.

Spiradic rocket attacks on northern Israel by Hamas's Lebanese allies Hezbollah

have displaced 60,000 Israeli citizens close to the border.

Until recently, the smart money was on both sides, Israel and Hezbollah, avoiding full-out escalation.

That money isn't looking so smart today.

Last week's extraordinary targeting of thousands of Hezbollah operatives

through their pages and walkie-talkies seems to have altered the calculus.

How did Israel carry out this operation?

And why now?

What does it say about how modern wars are conducted?

And what can we expect to happen in the weeks to come?

Step inside the briefing room and together we'll find out.

To help me understand all this, I'm joined by Shashank Joshi, the Economist Defence Editor,

Professor Lena Hatib, Director of the Middle East Institute at Soas University of London,

and Ronan Bergman, Israeli investigative journalist and author of Rise and Kill First,

the secret history of Israel's targeted assassinations.

Lina Khadib, let's start with the question that you probably always get asked.

Who are Hezbollah? Where did they come from?

Hezbollah are an armed group in Lebanon. They first came into existence in the early 80s when

Israel started occupying southern Lebanon. They presented themselves as a resistance group against

Israel. And even though Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, the group kept its weapons and continued to present itself as a necessary force for the defence of Lebanon and became the country's most powerful political actor at the same time.

...