Hezbollah Rejects US Ceasefire Proposal as Lebanon and Israel Hold Talks in Washington, DC

Lebanon and Israel opened a new round of direct talks in Washington, DC at the US State Department as fighting between Hezbollah and Israel continued despite a declared truce announced Monday night.

The Media Line said Hezbollah rejected a US-backed ceasefire proposal that would require the group to halt attacks on northern Israel in exchange for Israel refraining from striking Beirut’s southern suburbs, with Mahmoud Qomati warning that any Israeli action against the suburbs would trigger “a deeper and stronger response.”

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reported that Israel’s invasion of Lebanon has pushed deeper than at any point since the year 2000 and said Israel has killed 3,468 people in Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.

Al Jazeera also said Lebanon is seeking an Israeli withdrawal from its territory in the south so that more than 1.2 million displaced people can return home, while Israel is looking for assurances that Lebanon will disarm Hezbollah.

The Media Line added that the negotiations are taking place amid continued exchanges of fire and after a senior Hezbollah official said the group would refuse to accept any “partial” ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Hezbollah’s position hardened as the talks began, with Mahmud Qomati telling AFP in a written statement, “We will not accept a partial ceasefire,” and adding that “the Zionist enemy should know that any aggression against the suburbs could lead to a deeper and stronger response.”

The Media Line similarly described Qomati’s rejection of the reported framework and said the Hezbollah official warned that any Israeli action against Beirut’s southern suburbs would trigger a stronger response.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera reported that Lebanon’s government is still pushing for a total ceasefire, while Israel was striking various parts of southern Lebanon as talks started.

Al Jazeera also quoted Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun saying, “There is no option other than negotiation,” as it described opposition to direct talks from Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and his allies, Hezbollah.

In parallel, Al Jazeera said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis his country’s military would continue attacking Lebanon, and on Monday announced that attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs would resume despite a ceasefire.

As negotiations unfolded, the sources tied the diplomatic effort to ongoing casualties and displacement, with Al Jazeera saying Israel has killed 3,468 people in Lebanon since March 2 and that more than 1.2 million displaced people need to return home.

“Beirut, Lebanon – On Tuesday, representatives from Lebanon and Israel met at the US Department of State in Washington, DC – the first session of a two-day round of negotiations that Lebanese negotiators hope will end an invasion of their country”

Al Jazeera

The Guardian reported that Israeli strikes near a hospital in the southern city of Tyre killed four people and wounded 127 others, including 39 staff from the facility, with the health ministry describing the wounded staff at the Jabal Amel hospital as “four doctors, 27 nurses, and eight [administrative] employees.”

The Guardian also said US secretary of state Marco Rubio told lawmakers that Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is alive and “increasingly engaging,” while warning that this was “not a guarantee” that talks would lead to a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran.

TRT World said the talks were scheduled to last two days at the State Department and that Israel would continue targeting Hezbollah’s bastions in Beirut’s suburbs if the group continued to attack northern Israeli towns.

Against that backdrop, the Guardian said Israel Katz stated the US has backed plans to strike Beirut’s southern suburbs if Hezbollah attacks northern Israel, while German chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Israel to exercise restraint in southern Lebanon and urged Hezbollah to lay down its arms.