The Lebanese army said on Thursday it had taken operational control in the south of the country, but Israel said efforts to disarm Hezbollah fighters were insufficient, raising pressure on Lebanese leaders who fear Israel could escalate strikes.

Lebanon has been seeking to place all arms under state control, in line with a November 2024 US-brokered ceasefire that ended war between Israel and the Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah.

Israel says the truce requires the complete disarmament of Hezbollah, which was badly weakened by its strikes.

The army had set a deadline to clear non-state weaponry from the southern area near the Israeli border by the end of 2025, before moving on to other areas of the country.

It said on Thursday it had achieved that initial goal, securing areas south of the Litani ‍River, excluding positions still held by Israeli forces, though there was more work to be done clearing unexploded ordnance and tunnels.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the efforts by Lebanon's government and army were "an encouraging beginning".

But it added: "They are far from sufficient, as evidenced by Hezbollah's efforts to ‍rearm and rebuild its terror infrastructure with Iranian support".

Hezbollah's disarmament was "imperative for Israel's security and Lebanon's future", it said.

Israel has been conducting near-daily strikes in the south and sometimes more widely in Lebanon, accusing Hezbollah of trying to re-establish infrastructure, and Beirut of failing to uphold the ceasefire.

In a written statement on Thursday, Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc said Lebanon had fulfilled its obligations under the ceasefire deal.

It said Lebanon's government should avoid making concessions to Israel and "exert all possible pressure" to compel Israel to halt attacks and withdraw troops.

So far, Hezbollah has not obstructed the Lebanese army's clearing operations in southern Lebanon.

But the group refuses to disarm in full and says the agreement does not apply to the rest of Lebanon.

Lebanon's cabinet said the army must continue working on a state monopoly on arms in the rest of the country "as quickly as possible".

The army had previously proposed a phased plan in which it would clear unauthorised weapons caches region by region, moving north and east through the country.

The cabinet said the army commander would brief the cabinet in February on his plan for clearing the next region — a swathe of territory that lies between the Litani River and Beirut.

Hezbollah has fought numerous conflicts with Israel since it was founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982.

It kept its arms after the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, using them against Israeli troops who occupied the south until 2000.

The Lebanese military, which receives US support, has stayed out of conflicts between Hezbollah and Israel. (Reuters)