Hezbollah said today that the Lebanese government’s decision to hold talks with Israel is a “national sin” that will widen the rift in Lebanon, highlighting the deep polarisation in the country as the pro-Iranian group is at war with Israel.
Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said yesterday’s US-brokered meeting between Lebanon’s ambassador to Washington and her Israeli counterpart did not reflect Lebanon’s national identity or “the choices of its people”.
The meeting, which was hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was the first such direct contact between the two countries, which remain at war since Israel’s founding in 1948.
Both sides said the talks were positive, although ahead of the meeting Israel had ruled out any discussions regarding Lebanon’s demand for a ceasefire in the war that erupted on March 2 when Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran.
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“Does the government not realize the danger it faces? And does it understand that it has gone down a wrong path that only leads to widening the rift between the Lebanese?”
Fadlala said.
“He has received nothing from the enemy except praise, without any request being met,” he said in a televised statement.
Yesterday’s meeting came at a critical juncture in the Middle East crisis, a week after the fragile ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran began.
The wider conflict in the region began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Israel’s offensive in Lebanon has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people and forced 1.2 million to flee their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.
Fadlala said his organisation wants a comprehensive ceasefire, not a return to near-daily Israeli strikes and killings as happened after the November 2024 ceasefire deal.
Fadlala said his organisation wants a comprehensive ceasefire, not a return to near-daily Israeli strikes and killings as happened after the November 2024 ceasefire deal.
The Lebanese state is trying to disarm Hezbollah peacefully after the 2024 war. Any move by Lebanon to disarm it by force creates the risk of sparking conflict in a country that was in civil war from 1975 to 1990. The moves against Hezbollah by the Lebanese Government in 2008 led to another brief civil war. The current government banned Hezbollah’s military action after the group carried out attacks against Israel last month.
