Israel is capable of taking Lebanon “back to the Stone Age”, its defence minister has threatened, amid growing threat of war between the two countries.

Yoav Gallant insisted, however, that the Israeli government preferred to find a diplomatic solution to ongoing hostilities with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group.

“We don’t want to get into a war because it’s not good for Israel. We have the ability to take Lebanon back to the Stone Age, but we don’t want to do it,” Mr Gallant told reporters during a visit to Washington to meet senior US leaders.

Fears of a wider regional war have been growing in recent weeks, as Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) traded fire with increasing frequency, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee on both sides of the border.

Israel has killed at least 481 people in Lebanon since the Hamas attacks of Oct 7 2023, including 94 civilians, reported AFP. On the Israeli side, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have died, according to Israel.

Hezbollah has vowed to continue its volley of rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosive drones unless Israel ends the war in Gaza.

A US-backed ceasefire deal for the Gaza Strip remains elusive, with Hamas, the terror group, still demanding a guarantee from Israel that it will withdraw its troops and immediately end the war.

In his first Israeli media interview since the start of the war, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said on Sunday the “intense phase” of fighting Hamas in Gaza was nearly over, which would free more forces to reposition themselves to defend the north.

But he stressed that this “doesn’t mean the war is about to end” in Gaza and said Israel would continue to try to remove Hamas from power. He insisted that Israel was capable of fighting on several fronts.

This week, Germany and the Netherlands joined several other countries in urging their citizens based in Lebanon to leave while they still could.

“Tensions in the border areas with Israel are heightened and could escalate further at any time,” the German foreign office said, shortly after Annalena Baerbock, the foreign minister, visited Israel and Beirut.

The Dutch foreign ministry also warned that Lebanon was “unsafe” and “the situation remains very unpredictable.”

The UK’s foreign office advice, last updated on April 26, advises against all travel to Lebanon and encourages citizens living there to leave while commercial options remain available.