“We are always advocates of peace, and our choice is peace and the implementation of Resolution 1701. Israel must stop its repeated attacks on Lebanon and stop the war in Gaza. Everyone must implement International Resolution No. 2735,” Mikati said during a visit to a Lebanese army operations centre south of the country on Saturday.

Resolution 1701 is the UN Security Council order that helped end the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, while Resolution 2735 is the one the council adopted earlier in June, urging Israel and Hamas to implement a three-phase ceasefire deal.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Israel Aerospace Industries Workers' Council Yair Katz warned on Saturday that Israel has a weapon that could combat Iran.

"If we understand that there is an existential danger here and that Iran, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and all the countries of the Middle East decide that it is time to settle against us, I understand that we have the capabilities to use doomsday weapons," Katz said.

"The Americans, the British, and the Germans help us with intelligence. They inform us where there are moves that may endanger us," he emphasized.

The Israeli warplanes on Sunday bombed Hezbollah’s operational infrastructure and a military structure in the towns of Taybeh and Rab Thalateen in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army said.

The attacks took place during the night, it added in a post on X.

A call for restrain
 

US, European, and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah from spiralling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months, AP reported.

Iran and Israel traded threats Saturday of what Iran said would be an “obliterating” war over Hezbollah.

Hopes are lagging for a ceasefire in Israel's war in Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militias.

With the stalled talks in mind, American and European diplomats and other officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah about taking on the military might of Israel, current and former diplomats told AP.

The Americans and Europeans are warning the group it should not count on the United States or anyone else being able to hold off Israeli leaders if they decide to execute battle-ready plans for an offensive into Lebanon. Moreover, Hezbollah should not count on its fighters' ability to handle whatever would come next.

Despite this past week's plateauing of hostilities, said Gerald Feierstein, a former senior US diplomat in the Middle East,“ it certainly seems the Israelis are still ... arranging themselves in the expectation that there will be some kind of conflict ... an entirely different magnitude of conflict."

The message being delivered to Hezbollah is “Don't think that you're as capable as you think you are,” he said.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths used the word “apocalyptic” to describe a war that could result. Both Israel and Hezbollah, the dominant force in politically fractured Lebanon, have the power to cause heavy casualties.

“Such a war would be a catastrophe for Lebanon," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said as he met recently with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon. “Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily become a regional war, with terrible consequences for the Middle East.”

Gallant, in response, said: “We are working closely together to achieve an agreement, but we must also discuss readiness in every possible scenario.”

Analysts expect other Iran-allied militias in the region would respond far more forcefully than they have for Hamas, and some experts warn of ideologically motivated militants streaming into the region to join in. Europeans fear destabilizing refugee flows.

And if it looks like any Israeli offensive in Lebanon is "going seriously south for the Israelis, the US will intervene,” Feierstein said. “I don’t think they would see any alternative to that.”

Upping tensions, Iran's UN mission said in a posting Saturday on X that an “obliterating” war would ensue if Israel launches a full-scale attack in Lebanon. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded by pledging his country would move against Hezbollah with “full force” unless it stops attacks.