Lapid pledges to defend Israel against Hamas and Hezbollah in first cabinet meeting as PM

Hezbollah claimed the drones were unarmed and on a mission "for intelligence gathering purposes”.

Mr Lapid said: "Hezbollah continues on the path of terrorism and undermines Lebanon's ability to reach an agreement on the maritime border. Israel will continue to protect itself, its citizens and its assets.”

The prime minister was speaking with parliament having been dissolved and a date of 1 November set for national elections, but he spoke of his commitment to effective governance in the run-up to the poll.

He said: "In the coming months, our goal, of everyone at this table, is to run the government as if there is no coming election. The citizens of Israel are entitled to a functioning government at any given moment. This is the expectation from us, this is my expectation from my fellow ministers.

”This government will continue to work for the benefit of the citizens just as it has done all this past year. We will make decisions, we will implement moves, and we will continue to strengthen the economic, political and security power of the State of Israel.”