OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel's defence minister told the United States that prospects for a halt in fighting with Hizbollah militants along the Lebanon border were dimming, his office said on Monday.

 

Yoav Gallant told his ally, Secretary of Defense 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", an Israeli defence ministry statement said.

 

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hizbollah group has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces since Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, sparking war in the Gaza Strip.

 

The violence has killed hundreds of mostly fighters in Lebanon, and dozens of civilians and soldiers on the Israeli side.

 

In Lebanon, most of the dead were fighters, while on the Israeli side, there were both fighters and civilians.

 

The fighting has also forced tens of thousands of people on both sides to flee their homes. 

 

While rounds of talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have been held to try to secure a truce in Gaza, there has been no suggestion of any negotiations to halt the fighting between Hizbollah and Israel.

 

Hizbollah 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 Hizbollah 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 on Monday said Gallant "reiterated Israel's commitment to the removal of Hizbollah presence in southern Lebanon, and to enabling the safe return of Israel's northern communities to their homes."

 

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the crisis in the north on Sunday, vowing that "the existing situation will not continue".

 

"We will do everything necessary to return our residents safely to their homes," he said. 

 

After speaking with residents and authorities in the north, he said: "I hear the distress, I hear the cries.

 

"The status quo will not continue. This requires a change in the balance of power on our northern border."