A senior Israeli official expressed concern on Sunday that the recent violence in Lebanon would lead to the strengthening of armed groups supported by Israel's arch-foe Iran.
"The most dangerous possibility for us is to see Iran's proxies take control of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon because the fates of both regions are connected," Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told Israeli public radio.
Israel has long accused Iran of backing Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah militia -- with which it went to war in 2006 -- and the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, which launches near-daily rocket attacks on southern Israel.
"(Egyptian) President Hosni Mubarak recently declared that Egypt already has a border with Iran with the Gaza Strip. For us it's even worse because it's not only the Gaza Strip but also Lebanon in the north," Vilnai said.
Vilnai added that Israel did not intend to intervene in the crisis but had to "keep its eyes open".
Israel considers Iran to be its greatest strategic threat, because of both its nuclear programme -- which Tehran insists is peaceful -- and its president's repeated predictions of the demise of the Jewish state.
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit told reporters on Sunday he doubted whether Lebanon's government and army would be able to control Hezbollah, which seized west Beirut last week after three days of street battles.
Gunmen from Hezbollah and its opposition allies only withdrew after the army revoked government decisions taken against the movement.
"Hezbollah put down the government of Lebanon," Sheetrit said ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting.
"It's a very dangerous step in the long run because it is clear that Hezbollah is Iran's long arm. I hope Lebanon's government and army will come to their senses or we will face the reality where Iran rules Lebanon," he said.
Israel invaded Lebanon in July 2006 after Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid and battled the militia to a 34-day stalemate in which 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, were killed.
A security official in Lebanon said "more than four" Israeli warplanes overflew southern Lebanon on Sunday in violation of the country's airspace.
Israeli jets regularly overfly Lebanon in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which brought an end to the 2006 war.
