Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday told visiting U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein that a "fundamental change" was needed after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Displaced residents of the border area would not be able to return home "without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north" and Israel "will do what is necessary to ensure its security," Netanyahu told Hochstein, according to a statement from the Israeli leader's office.