Decision on how to deal with Hezbollah must be taken 'very soon', Israeli MK tells EU diplomats

Israel must make a decision on how to deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon "very soon," an Israeli parliamentarian told European diplomats during a settlement tour on Thursday.

"This way or that, through diplomatic efforts or a military operation, we will have to take care of it," Yuli Edelstein was quoted by Israeli media as telling 23 European ambassadors, consuls, and attachés during a tour of the Kiryat Shmona border settlement.

"It can’t drag on forever," the Likud party member said.

Kiryat Shmona is one Israeli settlement which has been hit the heaviest in nine months of cross-border clashes with Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese Shia group.

"It’s quite clear to all the elected officials — the government, the Knesset — that it’s impossible to continue like this," Edelstein told the diplomats.

Swathes of several south Lebanese border villages have been destroyed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war on Gaza in October. Israel has also conducted airstrikes far from the border region, including east Lebanon’s Baalbek district.

The fighting has killed over 460 people in Lebanon, mainly Hezbollah fighters, and around two dozen Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border have been displaced. In Kiryat Shmona, only a couple of thousand people remain out of the settlement’s 24,000 strong population, according to Israeli media.

Israel’s far-right ruling coalition has for months threatened to invade south Lebanon and push Hezbollah away from the border if Western-led diplomatic efforts fail.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the military are coming under increasing pressure from northern Israeli residents to take decisive action against Hezbollah, even if that meant a full-scale war on Lebanon.

Edelstein says the evacuation of Israeli localities has given Hezbollah "the biggest victory it could ever dream of."

"Every day we remain evacuated gives Hezbollah a reason to celebrate," he was quoted as saying.

European leaders are concerned of a Hezbollah-Israel war breaking out, saying everything should be done to avoid such a catastrophic scenario.

Hezbollah has said it was prepared for a fully-fledged war, warning Israel of unprecedented retaliation.

The militant group has tied any settlement with Israel to a ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 38,000 people have been killed by Israel’s offensive, mostly women and children.