Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said that prospects are dimming for a halt in nearly a year of fighting with Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group has traded regular cross-border fire with Israeli forces since Hamas's 7 October attack prompted war in the Gaza, in a campaign Hezbollah has said was in support of its Palestinian ally.
According to a statement from Mr Gallant's office, the Israeli minister told his US counterpart, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, in a call that "the possibility for an agreed framework in the northern arena is running out as Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas".
While repeated rounds of talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have sought a truce in Gaza, there have been no signs of progress in diplomacy aimed at halting the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
Hezbollah officials have said the group would stand down if a Gaza ceasefire is reached, while Israel insists it cannot allow militants to remain in the border area in Lebanon's south.
Israeli media said Amos Hochstein, the special envoy of US President Joe Biden, has arrived in Israel to help defuse the border tensions.
The violence has killed hundreds of mostly fighters in Lebanon, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side.
The fighting has also forced tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes.
Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said Saturday his group has "no intention of going to war", but if Israel does "unleash" one "there will be large losses on both sides".
Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in the summer of 2006 that killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, as well as 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
The Israeli defence ministry statement said Mr Gallant "reiterated Israel's commitment to the removal of Hezbollah presence in southern Lebanon and to enabling the safe return of Israel's northern communities to their homes" after more than 11 months.
Tensions in cabinet
The statement came as several Israeli media including left-leaning Haaretz daily reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering firing Mr Gallant, which Mr Netanyahu's office denied.
Mr Gallant, who had already survived an attempt by Mr Netanyahu to dismiss him in March 2023, is among several Israeli officials who have been at odds with the prime minister on war policy.
While Mr Gallant, a former general, remains committed to destroying Hamas over its 7 October attack, he has clashed with Mr Netanyahu on the issue of Gaza's post-war governance and pressed the prime minister to declare a policy.
Mr Gallant opposed any permanent Israeli occupation of Gaza, which Israel seized in 1967 before withdrawing troops in settlers in 2005 but later imposing a crippling blockade and, after 7 October, a siege.
The Israeli defence minister had said that the "day after Hamas will only be achieved with Palestinian entities taking control of Gaza, accompanied by international actors", rejecting long-term Israeli administration of the Palestinian territory.
Israeli media last month quoted Mr Gallant as telling a parliamentary committee that a deal to release hostages held in Gaza "is stalling ... in part because of Israel", prompting Mr Netanyahu's office to accuse Mr Gallant of adopting an "anti-Israel narrative".
Mr Netanyahu publicly addressed the crisis on Israel's northern border yesterday, saying at a cabinet meeting that "the existing situation will not continue".
"We will do everything necessary to return our residents safely to their homes," he said, adding that he was attentive to displaced residents' "distress".
"The status quo will not continue. This requires a change in the balance of power on our northern border," said Mr Netanyahu, without specifying how he planned to achieve it.
