Lebanon president hits back at Hezbollah over Israel talks criticism

Lebanon's president said Monday direct negotiations with Israel aimed to end the Israel-Hezbollah war, adding that those who dragged Lebanon to war were the ones committing "treason" -- a jab at Hezbollah, whose leader called the talks a "sin".

Lebanon and Israel's US ambassadors met twice in Washington over the past weeks, the first meetings of their kind in decades, for discussions that were categorically rejected by Hezbollah.

After the first round of talks, US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire that came into effect on April 17, later announcing a three-week extension after the second round of talks.

"My goal is to reach an end to the state of war with Israel, similar to the armistice agreement" of 1949, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a statement Monday.

Lebanon and Israel, officially at war for decades, signed an armistice agreement ending combat between the two states in 1949, after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

"Was the armistice agreement a humiliation? I assure you that I will not accept reaching a humiliating agreement."

Aoun's statement came shortly after Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem sharply criticised the government, issuing a statement describing direct negotiations with Israel as a "grave sin".

"We categorically reject direct negotiations with Israel, and those in power should know that their actions will not benefit Lebanon or themselves," Qassem said in a statement, aired by the group's TV channel Al-Manar.

He called on authorities to "back down from their grave sin that is putting Lebanon in a spiral of instability".

He added that the Lebanese government "cannot continue while it is neglecting Lebanon's rights, giving up land, and confronting its resistant people".

"We will not give up our weapons... and the Israeli enemy will not remain on a single inch of our occupied land."

- National consensus -

Aoun said "what we are doing is not treason. Rather, treason is committed by those who take their country to war to achieve foreign interests".

Aoun has faced intense criticism from Hezbollah and its supporters, who say his push for direct talks with Israel does not have the consensus of Lebanon's various communities.

The direct talks mark the latest point of contention after the government decided to disarm the group last year and outlawed its military activities in March.

"Some want to hold us accountable over the decision to go to negotiations on the grounds that there is no national consensus" over the talks, Aoun said.

"My question to them is: when you went to war, did you first obtain national consensus?"

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets towards Israel to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

- Fighting continues -

Despite the ceasefire in Lebanon, attacks have not stopped, with the Israeli army announcing Monday a new wave of strikes on the eastern Bekaa region and southern Lebanon targeting "Hezbollah infrastructure".

Israel also said on Monday that "over the past days, more than 50 terror infrastructure sites were dismantled".

Lebanese state media reported a series of Israeli airstrikes in several southern towns Monday, along with artillery shelling and demolition operations in at least two towns.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 36 people since the truce went into force, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.

Hezbollah has meanwhile claimed several attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, as well as missile and drone launches at northern Israel, saying it is responding to Israeli ceasefire "violations".

According to details of the truce released by the US State Department, which said both Lebanon and Israel agreed to it, Israel reserves the right to continue targeting Hezbollah to respond to "planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks".

Hezbollah strongly rejects this clause, saying the text of the agreement was not presented to the cabinet, in which the group and its allies are represented.

"Has the government decided to work alongside the Israeli enemy against its own people?" Qassem said.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 2,500 people since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities.