TEL AVIV, June 19. /TASS/. Israel is close to making a decision about the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group and will destroy it if a war breaks out, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz warned.

"We are very close to the moment of decision to change the rules against Hezbollah and Lebanon. In an all-out war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be severely hit," he said on X. "The State of Israel will pay a price on the front and home fronts, but with a strong and united nation, and the full power of the IDF, we will restore security to the residents of the north."

Earlier, the IDF said the Northern Command approved plans for offensive operations in Lebanon and decided to increase the combat readiness of troops.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7, accompanied by killings of residents of Israeli settlements near the border and taking more than 200 hostages, including children, women and elderly people. Hamas cast the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and started striking the enclave and parts of Lebanon and Syria. Afterward, the IDF started a ground operation in Gaza.

Tensions are not abating on Israel’s northern border, with regular shelling attacks coming from Lebanon and Israel striking back. According to the IDF, Israeli forces target Hezbollah sites. More than 80,000 Israelis have been evacuated from border areas.