Hezbollah Defiantly Rejects Lebanon-Israel Negotiation Outcomes
A senior Hezbollah official has declared that the Lebanese militant group will not recognise or abide by any agreements resulting from upcoming direct talks between Lebanon and Israel in the United States. Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of Hezbollah's political council, made the defiant statement on Monday, just before historic negotiations were set to begin in Washington.
Historic Talks Amid Ongoing Conflict
"As for the outcomes of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, we are not interested in or concerned with them at all," Safa told The Associated Press in a rare interview with international media. "We are not bound by what they agree to." The talks represent the first face-to-face meeting between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in decades, as the two countries do not maintain diplomatic relations.
Safa spoke next to a cemetery as an Israeli drone buzzed overhead, highlighting the tense atmosphere surrounding the negotiations. Lebanese officials are reportedly seeking to broker a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war through the U.S.-mediated talks. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated his goal is Hezbollah's disarmament and a potential peace agreement between the nations.
Complex Regional Dynamics
Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Netanyahu, emphasised on Monday that there would be no ceasefire with Hezbollah. Meanwhile, in separate U.S.-Iran peace talks held last weekend in Pakistan, Iran has attempted to include Lebanon in any ceasefire deal with the United States. Both Israel and the U.S. have insisted Lebanon would not be part of such an arrangement.
Hours after Tehran and Washington announced a truce last Wednesday, Israel launched more than 100 strikes across Lebanon, targeting densely packed residential and commercial areas of central Beirut. Although the U.S.-Iran talks concluded without agreement, Safa claimed Hezbollah had been informed that Iran "was able to obtain a cessation of attacks" in Beirut's entire administrative region, including the Hezbollah-strong southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh.
Hezbollah's Entry into the Conflict
Israel and Hezbollah have fought multiple wars since the Iran-backed group's formation in the 1980s as a guerrilla force opposing Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon. The latest conflict began on March 2, two days after Israel and the U.S. launched a war on Iran. Hezbollah entered the fray by firing missiles across the border into Israel, prompting aerial bombardment and ground invasion responses.
The war has displaced more than 1 million people in Lebanon and killed over 2,000 individuals, including more than 500 women, children, and medical workers. Many Lebanese citizens blame Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon into the conflict, accusing the group of acting on behalf of its patron, Iran.
Safa defended Hezbollah's actions as preemptive, claiming leaders believed "Israel was preparing for a second battle with Lebanon" aimed at destroying the organisation. He described it as "an appropriate moment for Hezbollah... to rebuild a new equation" and restore deterrence against Israel, while denying any prior agreements with Tehran about entering the war if Iran was attacked.
Controversial Casualty Claims
Israel has asserted that its strikes on Lebanon last Wednesday killed more than 250 Hezbollah militants. Lebanon's health ministry reported over 350 fatalities, including more than 100 women and children. Safa countered these claims, stating, "None of our officials or cadres was killed in Beirut. Those who died in Beirut are 100% civilians." He did not deny group members were killed outside the capital.
The official also addressed Israel's claim to have killed Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem's secretary, stating the secretary was not killed, although "maybe a relative of his was." Safa confirmed for the first time that he was wounded during the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war after being targeted by two Israeli strikes in Beirut, adding, "but God granted me survival."
Strained Government Relations
Relations between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah—which functions as both a militant group and political party with parliamentary representation—have grown increasingly tense. The government last year approved a plan to remove all non-state weapons and later claimed substantial completion south of the Litani River, where Hezbollah militants are currently fighting Israeli forces. After March 2, the government declared Hezbollah's armed wing illegal.
Safa revealed that Hezbollah is not directly communicating with President Joseph Aoun or Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, with all communications instead going through Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, head of the Hezbollah-allied Amal party.
Future Negotiation Possibilities
The senior official indicated that if a ceasefire occurs and Israeli troops withdraw from Lebanon, Hezbollah—which describes itself as a "resistance" movement against Israel—would be prepared to negotiate with the Lebanese government about the fate of its weapons. "The issue of resistance weapons is a Lebanese matter that has nothing to do with Israel or the United States," Safa asserted, highlighting the group's determination to maintain autonomy in any future discussions about its military capabilities.
