Hezbollah rejects Israel-Lebanon ceasefire talks, US insists deal must be brokered by governments, not militias

The United States said any cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon must be negotiated by their governments, not armed groups, after Washington hosted “productive discussions” that opened the door to direct talks between the two sides, the State Department said.

The talks are the highest-level engagement between Israel and Lebanon since 1993, BBC reported.

The State Department said Israel and Lebanon agreed to begin direct negotiations at a mutually-agreed time and place, as fighting along the border continued to displace civilians and heighten regional tensions.

The central sticking point remains Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group in Lebanon that the US and Israel say must be disarmed or sidelined for any durable deal to hold.

The move builds on the November 2024 US-brokered cessation of hostilities, when the White House said Israel and Lebanon accepted a US proposal to end the conflict and begin a 60-day process involving withdrawals, redeployments and implementation steps.

But the latest round underscores how fragile that framework remains amid renewed attacks, competing security demands and political pressure in Beirut and Jerusalem.

Washington insists that armed groups cannot substitute for sovereign governments in settling border conflict, and any cease-fire must be backed by state authority to have a chance of lasting.

Hezbollah has rejected the US-brokered ceasefire talks and says it will "not accept any deal" emerging from them.

The Iran-backed proxy also warned that it does not recognise the talks as a path to a binding settlement.

A senior Hezbollah official, Wafiq Safa, said the group would not abide by agreements from the direct Israel-Lebanon discussions and described the negotiations as “futile,” while urging Lebanon’s government to cancel the meeting.

Hezbollah’s objection centres on the talks’ structure and purpose.

The talks, hosted by Washington, are the first direct, high-level engagement between Israel and Lebanon in decades.

The group says the negotiations are really about forcing it to disarm, not about securing a genuine cease-fire, and it argues that Israel’s goal has been made clear in public statements.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has also framed the talks as a pressure tactic against the group and said Lebanon should not take part.

The fighting has displaced civilians, while Israel says it wants Hezbollah disarmed and has ruled out a cease-fire with the group under current conditions.

The talks, hosted by Washington, are the first direct, high-level engagement between Israel and Lebanon in decades.