Hezbollah Rejects Israel-Lebanon Talks, Reaffirms Refusal to Disarm as Tensions Escalate Along Border

Hezbollah has rejected any talks with Israel and reaffirmed its refusal to disarm, even as the Jewish state ramps up military operations in southern Lebanon amid rising border tensions.

On Thursday, the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group condemned the prospect of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, while reaffirming its refusal to disarm and claiming it has “a legitimate right to resist [Israeli] occupation.”

In an open letter to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Hezbollah called for prioritizing efforts to pressure Israel into complying with the US-brokered ceasefire negotiated by the countries last year rather than “being drawn into political negotiations with the Zionist enemy.”

“Any attempt at political negotiations with Israel does not serve Lebanon’s national interest,” the letter read. 

“The weapons that defended Lebanon will not be up for negotiation and will remain an integral part of the country’s national defense strategy,” it continued, with Hezbollah seemingly depicting itself as the protector of Lebanese sovereignty.

US and Israel officials have been pressuring the Lebanese government to enter direct negotiations with the Jewish state, with Egypt offering to mediate as fears of renewed conflict in the region intensify.

Hezbollah’s warning came as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out its latest airstrikes against the terrorist group, describing it as a response to ceasefire violations.

In a press release, the Israeli military confirmed it carried out a strike in southern Lebanon, targeting operatives at a Hezbollah site, which the IDF said was used to “produce equipment used by the organization to restore terror infrastructure.”

Under last year’s ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese government committed to disarm Hezbollah, which for years has wielded significant political and military influence across the country while maintaining significant terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon, which borders northern Israel. The deal was reached after Israel decimated much of Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive following the Islamist group’s attacks on northern Israeli communities — which Hezbollah claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.

Hezbollah claimed in its letter on Thursday that “the government’s hasty decision regarding the monopoly of arms” enabled Israel to exploit the situation, making disarmament a prerequisite for halting what the group alleges are Israeli violations of the ceasefire.

“Disarmament should be discussed within a national framework and not as a response to a foreign demand or Israeli blackmail,” the letter read. 

“We affirm our legitimate right to resist occupation and aggression, and to stand with our army and our people in defending our country’s sovereignty against an enemy that wages war on us, continues its attacks, and seeks to subjugate our state,” it continued. 

New reports indicate that Hezbollah has been actively rebuilding its military capabilities, in violation of the ceasefire agreement with the Jewish state.

With support from Iran, the terrorist group has been intensifying efforts to bolster its military power, including the production and repair of weapons, smuggling of arms and cash through seaports and Syrian routes, recruitment and training, and the use of civilian infrastructure as a base and cover for its operations.

In recent weeks, Israel has conducted strikes targeting Hezbollah’s rearmament efforts, particularly south of the Litani River, where the group’s operatives have historically been most active against the Jewish state.

For years, Israel has demanded that Hezbollah be barred from carrying out activities south of the Litani, located roughly 15 miles from the Israeli border.

Earlier this year, Lebanese officials agreed to a US-backed disarmament plan, which called for the terrorist group to be fully disarmed within four months — by November — in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from the five occupied positions in the country’s southern region.

The Lebanese government is now facing mounting pressure from Israeli and US officials to disarm Hezbollah and establish a state monopoly on weapons.

Meanwhile, the Iran-backed terrorist group has repeatedly defied international calls to disarm, even threatening protests and civil unrest if the government tries to enforce control over its weapons.

Since the Lebanese government has so far been unable to successfully implement the US-backed disarmament plan, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz last week accused Aoun of “dragging his feet” on this issue.

“The Lebanese government’s commitment to disarm Hezbollah and remove it from southern Lebanon must be implemented,” Katz said. “Maximum enforcement will continue and even intensify — we will not allow any threat to the residents of the north.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also warned that Israel would exercise its right to self-defense under the ceasefire agreement if Lebanon failed to disarm the terrorist group.

“We expect the Lebanese government to uphold its commitments, namely, to disarm Hezbollah. But it’s clear that we’ll exercise our right to self-defense as stipulated in the ceasefire terms,” the Israeli leader said. “We won’t let Lebanon become a renewed front against us, and we’ll do what’s necessary.”

For his part, Aoun criticized Israel for escalating strikes after he expressed willingness to negotiate, accusing it of hindering prospects for negotiations while also directing the Lebanese army to confront IDF incursions along the southern border.