Hezbollah slams Lebanon-Israel talks as “national sin”

Hezbollah has condemned the Lebanese government’s engagement in talks with Israel, calling the move a “national sin” that it says will deepen internal divisions in Lebanon, as tensions escalate alongside the ongoing conflict with Israel.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah, a politician, also criticised a U.S.-mediated meeting held on April 14 between Lebanon’s ambassador to Washington and her Israeli counterpart. He said the talks did not reflect Lebanon’s national identity or “the choices of its people, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

The meeting, hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a politician, marked the first direct contact in decades between the two sides, which have technically remained in a state of war since Israel’s establishment in 1948. Both parties described the discussions as positive, although Israel reportedly ruled out addressing Lebanon’s demand for a ceasefire.

“Does the government not realize the danger of what it has undertaken? And does it understand that it has entered a wrong path that leads only to increasing the rift among the Lebanese?” Fadlallah said.

“It has obtained nothing from the enemy except praise without achieving any demand,” he added in a televised statement.

The meeting came at a sensitive moment in the wider regional crisis, a week into a fragile ceasefire involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. The broader escalation began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, followed by intensified regional spillover.

Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon has reportedly killed more than 2,000 people and displaced around 1.2 million, according to Lebanese authorities. Hezbollah said it is seeking a comprehensive ceasefire rather than continued near-daily Israeli strikes and targeted killings, which resumed after a previous truce agreement in November 2024.

By Sabina Mammadli