ISRAEL INSISTS ON RIGHT TO ACT AGAINST HEZBOLLAH IN ANY DEAL TO END FIGHTING

Lebanon may view any such demand as an infringement on its sovereignty, complicating efforts to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israel's defence minister says his country insists on the right to act militarily against Hezbollah in any agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon.

Lebanon's government is likely to view any such demand as an infringement on its sovereignty, complicating efforts to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that erupted into all-out war in September.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Wednesday that "the condition for any political settlement in Lebanon is the preservation of the intelligence capability and the preservation of the (Israeli military's) right to act and protect the citizens of Israel from Hezbollah."

Lebanese officials mediating between Israel and Hezbollah have called for a return to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between the sides.