Israel warns time running out to halt battle with Hezbollah

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

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

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah 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 Hezbollah and Israel.

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said on 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.