In a televised Easter address, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun defended his decision to pursue negotiations with Israel, arguing that diplomacy is the only way to halt escalating airstrikes and a growing ground incursion in southern Lebanon.
Responding to questions from journalists, Aoun said Israel had not yet responded to Lebanon’s demand for a ceasefire as a precondition for entering full negotiations.
IDF strikes in Lebanon's Dahieh
Still, he stressed that talks remain the only viable path to ending Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah, warning of the consequences if the conflict continues unchecked.
“It may be that Israel wants to operate in southern Lebanon as it does in Gaza, but our duty is not to drag it into doing what it does in Gaza,” he said. “Negotiations are not surrender. Gaza is destroyed and more than 70,000 have been killed, and only afterward do they negotiate. We have no choice but to negotiate to stop the tragedy in Lebanon.”
Aoun added that he is calling on international actors to intervene and halt what he described as “this madness,” referring to Israeli strikes.
Israel launched its operation in response to renewed Hezbollah rocket fire, which the Iran-backed terrorist group resumed last month following the outbreak of war with Iran.
The Lebanese president also directed indirect criticism at Hezbollah, accusing the group of undermining internal stability and dragging Lebanon into conflict.
“Anyone who harms civil peace is serving Israel, and that is worse than the Israeli attacks,” he said.
Addressing a separate diplomatic issue, Aoun said the expelled Iranian ambassador, who has refused to leave Lebanon, no longer holds official status.
“He is not an ambassador; he is at the Iranian embassy without an official role,” he said.
Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation warnings to residents of Beirut’s Dahieh district, a Hezbollah stronghold, before launching a wave of airstrikes targeting the group’s command centers.
The IDF said the strikes were carried out after warnings were delivered in Arabic to civilians in the area.
In a separate update, the military said more than 90 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed by 146th Division forces since the start of operations in southern Lebanon.
“In the past 24 hours, 226th Brigade identified two terrorist cells, and in rapid response strikes, the Israeli Air Force eliminated the terrorists with guidance from ground forces,” the IDF said.
The military also accused Hezbollah of endangering international forces, stating that approximately 165 rockets fired by the group have landed inside or near UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon since the beginning of the campaign.
“Hezbollah is systematically violating international law and continues to operate while endangering international forces and harming UN personnel in the area,” the IDF said, adding that coordination mechanisms with UNIFIL remain in place.