US President-elect Donald Trump has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he supports reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon, while a Wall Street Journal report has highlighted a sticking point currently standing in the way of a settlement.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said on Friday that Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer met with Trump and senior officials in his administration last Sunday, and discussed with them a wide range of issues.

"Trump has officially given the green light to continue trying to reach a settlement on Lebanon," she added.

The Israeli Authority quoted a source familiar with the talks as saying that the US President-elect told Dermer, "I want you to reach an agreement on Lebanon. I have no objections to the current plan."

The broadcaster noted that Trump's meeting with Dermer "took place even before the latter's meeting with senior US administration officials this week."

On the other hand, the Wall Street Journal said that Trump expressed to Dermer his hope to achieve a settlement with Lebanon before he arrives at the White House.

The American newspaper explained that the broad outlines of the settlement proposal stipulate preventing the Lebanese army, UNIFIL, and Hezbollah from returning south, and stated that the sticking point in the settlement currently is ensuring that Israel imposes a ceasefire if UNIFIL and the Lebanese army fail in their mission.

She pointed out that Israel is seeking assistance from Russian forces in Syria to prevent Hezbollah from replenishing its weapons stockpile through smuggling.

Expert warnings

The Wall Street Journal reported that security experts in Israel warned that expanding operations in Lebanon could lead to a war of attrition, and that Israel's incursion into Lebanon to pressure Hezbollah regarding a settlement is fraught with risks.

A former Israeli military official told the newspaper that Israel must review its goal of completely destroying Hezbollah as a military organization.

In turn, The Economist newspaper confirmed that the talks mediated by the United States to reach an agreement in Lebanon have become more advanced now.

According to Israeli media, Washington has presented a proposal stipulating that Hezbollah withdraw to the north of the Litani River, deploy the Lebanese army in the south, prevent the party from re-establishing positions in the region, and prevent the transfer of weapons to the party through Syria.

But Israel wants to retain the right to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon even after the agreement, which Lebanon strongly rejects.

While the party stresses that indirect negotiations with Israel must be based on two things: stopping the aggression and protecting Lebanese sovereignty in full and without any compromise.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar claimed in recent days that "progress has been made in the negotiations for a ceasefire in Lebanon."

While Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, in a statement contradicting Sa'ar's statement, stressed that he would not allow a settlement with Lebanon that did not include Hezbollah's disarmament and withdrawal beyond the Litani River.