A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims Israel wants new and more ambitious talks with Lebanon, after Israeli forces carried out their deadliest strikes on the country since a US-brokered truce in June, Al Jazeera reports.

Doron Spielman told the AFP news agency that the strikes should “jumpstart” the talks, “not do the opposite”.

Spielman said Israel was still upholding the US-brokered framework agreement with Lebanon.

“We believe in the agreement. We very much hope that the Lebanese Armed Forces are going to be able to step into the foray, and together we’re going to remove Hezbollah from the picture,” he told AFP.

The agreement calls for the Lebanese army to “restore effective sovereign authority over all Lebanese territory, pending the verified disarmament” of Hezbollah, after which Israeli forces would “progressively redeploy out of the Lebanese territory”.

Hezbollah has rejected the deal, with the group’s chief Naim Qassem saying it “grants Israel everything it wants, and the Lebanese authorities relinquish their sovereignty, leaving nothing for Lebanon”.