The head of Lebanon's largest Christian party said Iran-backed Hezbollah should relinquish its weapons as quickly as possible to end its year-long war with Israel and spare Lebanon further death and destruction.

Samir Geagea, Hezbollah's fiercest political opponent in Lebanon, spoke to Reuters on Thursday at his mountain home and party headquarters in Maarab, north of Beirut, as Israel carried out waves of strikes on areas Hezbollah holds sway.

"With the destruction of all of Hezbollah's infrastructure and its warehouses, a big part of Lebanon is also being destroyed. That's the price," he said.

Hezbollah's critics in Lebanon, such as Geagea, say it unilaterally pulled Lebanon into a new war after it began firing at Israel in solidarity with Palestinian group Hamas following the Oct. 7 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Hezbollah says it is defending Lebanon from Israeli aggression and has vowed to keep fighting, saying it will not lay down its arms or allow Israel to achieve political gains on the back of the war.

The intense pressure of Israel's military campaign, which has escalated and expanded since late September to include ground incursions into southern Lebanon, presented an opportunity to get the country back on track, Geagea said.

"If the challenges and the prices paid are so big, then we can take advantage of them to get the situation back to normal," he said, calling on Hezbollah and the Lebanese state to swiftly implement local accords and international resolutions disbanding armed factions outside the control of the state.

"That is the shortest way to end the war. It's the least costly way for Lebanon and for the Lebanese people," he said.

Faltering diplomatic efforts on a ceasefire have centred on United Nations Resolution 1701, which brought an end to Hezbollah's last deadly conflict with Israel in 2006.

Israel has insisted that this time around, it wants to keep carrying out strikes against Hezbollah threats even if a truce is agreed.

Geagea said he was opposed to granting Israel that option but said Lebanon had little power to stop it, especially if an excuse remained in the form of Hezbollah's armed presence.