Yair Lapid has given his commitment to act against Hamas and Hezbollah "at any given moment" as he addressed the cabinet in his first meeting as Israel’s prime minister.

Speaking this morning in Jerusalem, he said: "Hamas and Hezbollah are not waiting. We have to act against them in all areas, at any given moment, and that is exactly what we will do.”

Yesterday, the IDF intercepted three unmanned aerial vehicles  (UAVs) believed to have been operated by Hezbollah and headed towards the Karish gas field, the ownership of which is disputed by Lebanon although it lies within Israel’s economic waters.

The drones were shot down a few miles from their presumed destination.

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.”