Hezbollah chief: Iran-US deal is best chance to end Israeli ‘aggression’ in Lebanon

In letter to operatives of Iran-backed terror group, Naim Qassem also blasts Lebanese government’s direct negotiations with Israel and insists Hezbollah’s arms not be discussed

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Tuesday that a ceasefire deal between the US and Iran would be the best chance to end Israel’s “aggression” against Lebanon.

An “Iranian-US agreement that includes a halt to the aggression in Lebanon is basically the strongest card for stopping the aggression,” Qassem wrote in a letter to operatives of the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group.

The comments came after US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s latest ceasefire proposal and said the Iran truce that began on April 8 was on “life support.”

Qassem in his letter also blasted the Lebanese government for conducting direct talks with Israel, and said the talks should not include discussions of Hezbollah’s disarmament, which is sought by both Israel and the government in Beirut.

“No one outside Lebanon has any say in the weapons, the resistance, or the organization of Lebanon’s internal affairs,” Qassem said. “This is an internal Lebanese matter and not part of negotiations with the enemy.”

A third round of the Israeli-Lebanese talks is set to take place on Thursday and Friday in Washington, after the first direct meeting in decades between the two sides was held last month.

Trump announced a ceasefire in Lebanon days after the first meeting, but the talks have caused divisions in Lebanon, with Hezbollah rejecting direct negotiations with Israel and saying their outcomes do not concern the terror group.

In his letter, which was broadcast via Hezbollah’s al-Manar television station, Qassem called for a “withdrawal from the direct negotiations, which are pure gains for Israel and free concessions by the Lebanese authorities.”

But he also indicated Hezbollah was willing to work with the Beirut government, saying “the responsibility for negotiating to achieve Lebanon’s sovereign objectives remains the responsibility of authorities in Lebanon.”

Qassem listed five goals for which Hezbollah was prepared to work with the Lebanese government: an end to Israeli operations, the withdrawal of the IDF from Lebanon, the release of Lebanese prisoners from Israel, the return of southern Lebanese civilians displaced by Israel, and reconstruction.

In addition, he said, Hezbollah supports the deployment of the Lebanese army south of the Litani River.

Under a 2024 Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal, which ended over a year of hostilities started by Hezbollah, the Lebanese military was supposed to replace Israeli troops in the area between the two countries’ border and the river, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the border.

Israel later held on to five border points inside Lebanon, accusing the Lebanese military of failing to dismantle Hezbollah’s presence in the area.

Israel pushed troops deeper into Lebanon and carried out massive airstrikes there after Hezbollah started firing rockets at Israel on March 2 for the first time since the 2024 agreement.

The terror group has said it renewed its attacks in response to both Israel’s continued attacks and presence in Lebanon since that agreement, and the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, at the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran on February 28.

Hostilities have continued on a smaller scale since Trump’s April 16 ceasefire announcement, which came eight days into a US-Israeli ceasefire with Iran.

Qassem, in his Tuesday letter, vowed to turn the battlefield into “hell” for Israel if the fighting in Lebanon continues.

“We will respond to the aggression and violations, and we will not return to the pre-March 2 status quo,” he said.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.