Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said on Sunday he hoped a possible agreement between Iran and the United States would extend to Lebanon, where Israel and the Iran-backed group are locked in conflict.
Hezbollah and Israel have clashed since the militants drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in U.S.-Israeli strikes.
Iranian officials have said an understanding with Washington to halt the regional war will include Lebanon.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump had reaffirmed his support for Israel’s right “to defend itself against threats on all fronts, including in Lebanon”.
“God willing, this agreement will be finalized and there are signs of its completion, and accordingly that we too will be among those included in this agreement — an agreement of a full cessation of hostilities,” Qassem said in a televised address broadcast on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel.
The speech marked the anniversary of Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000 after around two decades of occupation and following persistent pressure from Hezbollah.
Qassem said that Iran, which has provided Hezbollah with funding and weapons for decades, “is on top” and would emerge from the regional war “with its head high”.
Expectations of a Middle East deal come as Lebanon prepares for a fourth round of direct talks with Israel in Washington on June 2 and 3, preceded by a meeting between military delegations at the Pentagon on May 29.
‘Existential threat’
Qassem again repeated his group’s rejection of direct talks, charging that key Israel ally Washington “is not an honest broker”.
“Direct negotiations are completely unacceptable and are a pure gain for Israel,” he said, addressing Lebanese authorities who last year committed to disarming Hezbollah and then banned its military activities after the latest war erupted.
“Abandon the direct negotiations and do not give to America so that it gives to Israel… Return to the national understanding,” he added.
“Don’t be with them and stab us in the back. You won’t gain anything, and it’s better for you to stand with your country.”
Despite heavy losses in 2023-2024 hostilities with Israel and the current war, Hezbollah refuses to disarm, arguing that its weapons are an internal Lebanese matter and not up for discussion in Washington.
“Disarmament means stripping Lebanon of its defensive capability and the capability of the resistance (Hezbollah) and this people, paving the way for annihilation,” he said.
“Disarmament is annihilation and we cannot accept it.”
A state monopoly on weapons demanded by Lebanese authorities “at this stage is aimed at targeting the resistance and is an Israeli project” whose objective is to “annihilate the resistance”.
“All the facts prove that we and our people face an existential threat,” Qassem said.
“We will not bow, even if the whole world turns against us.”
14 killed in latest truce violation
Meanwhile, at least 14 people were killed and several others wounded in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday amid continued violations of an ongoing cease-fire.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said 11 people were killed and nine others injured in an Israeli strike on the town of Seir al-Gharbiyeh in Nabatieh province in southern Lebanon.
A fighter jet struck the town of Bazouriyeh in the Tyre district, killing one person and injuring two others, the state news agency NNA reported.
An Israeli drone strike also killed a young man in the town of Arabsalim in Nabatieh district, the outlet said.
A house was also hit in an Israeli strike in the town of Toura in Tyre, killing a woman and injuring two people.
The Israeli attacks came despite a U.S.-mediated ceasefire that is supposed to remain in effect until early July.
More than 3,100 people have been killed, over 9,500 injured, and 1.6 million displaced by Israeli bombardment in Lebanon since March 2 amid cross-border attacks with Hezbollah, according to Lebanese officials.
