A senior Hezbollah official said Monday that the Lebanese terror group will not be bound by any agreements resulting from upcoming direct talks between Lebanon and Israel in the United States, negotiations the group strongly opposes.
Wafiq Safa, a member of Hezbollah’s political council, spoke on the eve of expected meetings in Washington between Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors — a rare face-to-face encounter between representatives of countries that do not have diplomatic relations.
“As for the outcomes of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, we are not interested in or concerned with them at all,” Safa told The Associated Press. “We are not bound by what they agree to.” Safa spoke during a rare interview with international media, conducted near a cemetery as an Israeli drone flew overhead.
Lebanese officials are seeking to broker a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war through the U.S.-hosted talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel’s goals include Hezbollah’s disarmament and the possibility of a broader peace agreement. A spokesperson for Netanyahu said Monday there will be no ceasefire with Hezbollah.
The talks come amid broader regional tensions. In separate U.S.-Iran discussions held last weekend in Pakistan, Iran sought to include Lebanon in any ceasefire arrangement with Washington. Both the United States and Israel rejected that possibility.
Hours after Tehran and Washington announced a truce last week, Israel launched more than 100 strikes across Lebanon, including in densely populated areas of central Beirut. While Israeli strikes on Beirut and its southern suburbs have halted since Wednesday, fighting has continued in southern Lebanon.
Safa said Hezbollah’s actions were preemptive, based on assessments that Israel was preparing for another conflict aimed at destroying the group. He denied any prior agreement with Iran to enter the war. “It was an appropriate moment for Hezbollah to rebuild a new equation and restore deterrence,” he said.
Hezbollah is also seeking to avoid a return to the situation that followed a November 2024 ceasefire, after which Israel continued near-daily strikes in Lebanon targeting what it said were Hezbollah positions.
The IDF said its strikes last Wednesday eliminated more than 250 Hezbollah terrorists. Safa rejected Israeli claims about casualties in Beirut. “None of our officials or cadres was killed in Beirut,” he said. “Those who died in Beirut are 100% civilians.” He did not deny that Hezbollah members were killed outside the capital.
Safa said Hezbollah is not currently in direct contact with President Joseph Aoun or Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, with communication instead going through Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally.
He said that if a ceasefire is reached and Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanon, Hezbollah would be willing to discuss the future of its weapons with the Lebanese government.
“The issue of resistance weapons is a Lebanese matter that has nothing to do with Israel or the United States,” Safa said.