'You neither fight nor allow anyone to fight': Hezbollah chief urges Beirut to reverse course ahead of talks with Israel
The direct talks between Lebanon and Israel come as the resistance is engaged in fierce clashes with occupation forces in south Lebanon
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem made a speech on 13 April, accusing the Lebanese government of “weakness” and rejecting the direct negotiations planned between Beirut and Tel Aviv in Washington.
He also slammed the government’s decision last month to outlaw Hezbollah military activities.
“The state's failure to confront can be justified by its weakness and inability, but it cannot be justified that the state becomes a tool for Israel through pressure and by making government decisions that weaken the internal situation in the face of aggression,” he said, referring to the Lebanese government’s initiative to enter into direct talks with Israel.
“Israel has clearly stated, along with the US, that they want to strengthen the army in order to disarm Hezbollah and fight it, and they want the state to abolish the party’s various institutions and eliminate the existence of the resistance, its people, and all who support it,” he added.
Qassem called the upcoming talks between Lebanon and Israel “futile.”
“What cards do you hold?” he asked the Lebanese government. “Let the November agreement be implemented, and enough of the authority disavowing the resistance and treating it as an enemy, at a time when it should be supporting it and benefiting from its capabilities.”
“How strange you are! By God, you neither fight nor allow anyone to fight, you neither confront nor allow anyone to confront,” he added. “The only path that achieves sovereignty is the implementation of the agreement, by completely stopping the aggression, the immediate withdrawal from all territories, the release of prisoners, and the return of people to their villages and cities, to the last house along the border strip and Lebanon’s borders.”
He also demanded an official and internationally-backed reconstruction process.
“I call on the Lebanese government to reverse course, as this is part of Lebanon’s sovereignty. The political authority is capable of doing so, and then cooperation between the authority, the resistance, and the people will increase, enabling us to protect the country,” he stressed, calling for a cancellation of the talks.
Additionally, Qassem vowed that Hezbollah is prepared to fight “until the last breath.”
Direct Lebanon–Israel negotiations are set to take place in the US capital on Tuesday afternoon.
The talks were announced after Beirut rejected Iranian efforts to include Lebanon in the two-week ceasefire announced between the US and Iran on 8 April. That day, Israel launched its largest attacks on the Lebanese capital since 1983, killing over 300 in a series of nationwide airstrikes focusing heavily on Beirut.
Since those massacres, the Israeli army has halted attacks on the Lebanese capital due to Iranian pressure exerted ahead of the recent talks in Islamabad. Washington had initially accepted Tehran’s 10-point plan that included a Lebanon ceasefire, before backtracking following lobbying from Israel.
Iran threatened to boycott the Islamabad talks if attacks on Lebanon were not scaled back, prompting the US to press Israel on the matter, according to multiple reports.
Lower-level direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel began last year via the ceasefire monitoring mechanism established in 2024, which allowed Tel Aviv to violate the truce continuously.
Israel says Tuesday’s talks will focus on disarming Hezbollah and moving forward with peace and normalization. Beirut claims it is only seeking a non-aggression pact, but has been under heavy US pressure to disarm the resistance and engage directly with Israel in violation of its own laws.
Lebanon will be represented by its ambassador in Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad. Israel's ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, is representing Israel.
The talks come as Hezbollah fighters are fiercely confronting an Israeli ground invasion, while simultaneously stepping up cross-border rocket and drone attacks on Israeli bases and troop gatherings in Kiryat Shmona, Avivim, and other northern settlements.
Heavy battles between Israeli troops and Lebanese resistance fighters are taking place in the strategic city of Bint Jbeil, which links the eastern and western sectors of south Lebanon.
Israel has killed over 2,000 people in Lebanon since Hezbollah responded to over a year of Israeli ceasefire violations on 2 March.
At the start of the war, Beirut declared a ban on Hezbollah military activities. However, it has not been capable of preventing the resistance from carrying out operations.