Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz warned the Lebanese government on Saturday to disarm Hezbollah or "pay a very heavy price."
"We (ISRAEL) have no territorial claims against Lebanon, but we will not accept a situation where what existed for many years — firing from Lebanese territory toward the State of Israel — is renewed," Katz said in a statement.
"Therefore, we are turning and warning: act and take action before we act even more."
The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon on Saturday urged Lebanon and Israel to enter talks to negotiate an end hostilities after the outbreak of a renewed Israel-Hezbollah war.
"As bad as things are today, they are set to get even worse," Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said.
"Talks between Lebanon and Israel can be the game changer needed to save future generations from going, time and again, through the same nightmare".
In December, Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives engaged in their first direct talks in decades as part of a meeting of a committee monitoring the November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon was engulfed by the expanding Middle East war on Monday, after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel to avenge the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
