Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem Rejects Israel-Lebanon Truce, Says Conditions Mean Defeat

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a U.S.-mediated cessation of hostilities contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire, but Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem rejected the Israeli-Lebanese agreement and insisted its conditions were no-less than accepting defeat.

“Iran: Trump facing two options, either 'an impossible military operation' or 'a bad deal'”

Anadolu Ajansı

In TV7 Israel News’ framing of the same broader Lebanon track, the outlet says Hezbollah defies truce and hits north Israel, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Mossad to curb Iran’s efforts to rehabilitate themselves.

Anadolu Ajansı

TV7 Israel News also describes a sequence in which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed Hezbollah had repeatedly breached agreements reached for de-escalation in Lebanon, and Netanyahu said he thought President Trump should be given a chance to reach a negotiated resolution with Iran.

Against that backdrop, Naharnet reported that Hezbollah was willing to accept a deal but said any final decision needed consultation with the Revolutionary Guard, and it cited Al-Jadeed TV’s account of Israeli conditions conveyed to the Lebanese side.

Naharnet, citing Al-Jadeed TV, said the Americans conveyed Israeli conditions to the Lebanese side that included withdrawal of approximately 2,300 Hezbollah members from the area south of the Litani River, with names specified by Israel.

The same Naharnet report said the second condition stipulated that any attack on Israel would be met with a retaliatory attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut, and the third condition granted Israel the right to carry out military retaliation if it deemed Hezbollah had violated the agreement.

Mondoweiss

Naharnet added that the Israeli side proposed that the pilot phase begin in the Zawtar area and beyond, a proposal rejected by Hezbollah, and it said reports described an alternative gaining wider acceptance in Lebanon that treated the entire area south of the Litani River as the framework for pilot zones.

In that context, Naharnet reported that Hezbollah expressed willingness to cooperate to reach an agreement but stressed that any final decision requires "consultation with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps" in addition to arrangements related to the so-called pilot zones.

Mondoweiss quoted Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader and former Commander of the IRGC, saying, "Lebanon, and Hezbollah in particular, remain among Iran’s most important red lines in any potential agreement with the United States."

“Report: Hezbollah willing to accept deal, says final decision needs consultation with Revolutionary Guard The Americans have recently conveyed a set of Israeli conditions to the Lebanese side, which were rejected by Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah, Al-Jadeed TV reported on Tuesday”

Naharnet

Rezaei told Mondoweiss that, "From Tehran’s perspective, Hezbollah is not merely a political or military ally. It is part of a strategic partnership forged over decades," tying Lebanon to Tehran’s long-term strategic vision.

Mondoweiss also described Rezaei’s view that "the blockade was imposed" after the ceasefire and that commitments regarding Lebanon were violated, while Anadolu Ajansı described an IRGC Intelligence Agency post on X saying the margin for U.S. decision-making may be narrowing.

In parallel, Anadolu Ajansı reported the IRGC Intelligence Agency account said Trump must choose between "an impossible military operation" and "a bad deal" with Iran, and it placed that warning alongside references to the Strait of Hormuz blockade and the April 8 mediated truce.