JERUSALEM

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned of a “hot summer” with Hezbollah on Wednesday amid heightened tensions along Israel’s border with Lebanon.

“It could be a hot summer,” Gallant told army troops in northern Israel. “We have very significant, very heavy firepower, and we will make sure to activate it if there is a need and a reason.”

“We have pushed Hezbollah away from the lines of contact to significant distances, but this does not mean that it has disappeared,” he added.

The defense minister vowed to return thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah attacks to their homes in northern Israel.

“To return the residents safely, an agreement process or an operational process is needed. I am determined to return the residents to their homes safely and to rebuild the things that were destroyed,” Gallant said.

“Now you have to prepare for the upcoming [missions], and this summer could be a hot summer,” he told his troops.

Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 34,800 people since last October following a Hamas attack.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul