Gantz: Military focus should shift to Lebanon, Iran

Former Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said Israel should shift its focus away from Gaza and towards Hezbollah and the border with Lebanon.

"We are late on this," he said, speaking at a Middle East forum in Washington, DC.

"We have enough forces to deal with Gaza and we should concentrate on what is going on in the north," he added.

Gantz says Israel has "crossed a decisive point of the campaign" in Gaza where he believes his country can do "anything we want".

"We should seek to have a deal to get out our hostages but if we cannot in the coming time, a few days or few weeks, or whatever it is, we should go up north."

Israel is capable of "hitting the state of Lebanon if needed," he said, adding that "the story of Hamas is old news" while that of Iran and its proxies in the region should be dealt with.

Gantz' comments come as Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Al Jazeera that Israel conveyed through mediators that it is not interested in a ceasefire with Lebanon, even after a deal ending the war in Gaza is reached.