Lebanon's Foreign Minister, Youssef Rajji, alleged that Israel is planning to carry out a large-scale military operation against Lebanon during an interview with Qatari state-funded news source Al Jazeera that was published on Friday.
Rajji said in the interview that Beirut was holding diplomatic talks to "prevent the expected Israeli attack."
The minister further claimed that he received warnings from sources in and outside the Arab world of the allegedly planned attack, and said that Lebanon aims to return to its ceasefire agreement with Israel.
A security source told KAN, Israel's public broadcaster, that if Hezbollah does not actively disarm, Israel will do it for them.
Tensions rising with Hezbollah in northern border
Hours before the Al Jazeera interview was published, IDF reservists said that Hezbollah terrorists have increasingly approached Israeli military positions on the northern border with Lebanon. The operatives have been disguised as agricultural workers and have been spotted more often in the past few weeks.
The same day, the IDF also struck in southern Lebanon, with the military adding that it was conducting strikes on Hezbollah training compounds as part of an ongoing military campaign to target and eliminate violations of the peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon.
Rajji had also stated that over the past two years, Hezbollah has proven that it's incapable of helping Gaza or defending Lebanon, but all of the government's attempts to hold a dialogue with the terrorist organization regarding its disarmament have been met with rejection. Saudi state-owned outlet, Al-Arabiya, quoted the Lebanese official saying that Hezbollah "cannot hand over its weapons without an Iranian decision."
Rajji's Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, said the previous day that he would travel to Beirut for talks after receiving a formal invitation from Rajji, after the Lebanese official said Wednesday that "current conditions" prevented him from traveling to Tehran.
Amir Bohbot, Reuters, Corrine Baum, and Shoshana Baker contributed to this report.