Naim Qassim says the planned talks in Washington DC are a ploy to pressure Hezbollah to lay down its arms.
Published on 13 April 2026
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has rejected an upcoming meeting between the Lebanese government and Israel in the United States, calling such efforts “futile” as Israeli forces step up their attacks on Lebanon.
In a televised speech on Monday, Qasim called on the government to take a “historic and heroic stance” by not engaging in planned talks.
The Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to the US are scheduled to meet in Washington, DC on Tuesday to discuss holding direct talks between the two countries.
Qassem said the talks were a ploy to pressure Hezbollah to lay down its arms.
“Israel clearly says that the goal of these negotiations is to disarm Hezbollah, as (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu says repeatedly. So, how can you go into negotiations whose purpose is already clear?” Qasim said.
He said, “We will not rest, stop or surrender. Instead, we will let the battlefield speak for itself.”
Israel escalated its war on Lebanon in early March following a barrage of rockets fired by Hezbollah. The ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed group was reportedly effective from November 2024, but Israel continued to carry out almost daily deadly attacks.
Hezbollah said its March 2 attack was retaliation for the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by the US and Israel two days earlier, on the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Since then, Israeli bombing of Lebanon and ground attacks in the south have killed at least 2,055 people, including 165 children and 87 medical workers. More than 6,500 other people have been injured, while about 1.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes.
Lebanese officials say the priority is to ensure a ceasefire, but Israel has said it wants to start formal peace talks with Lebanon. It placed the disarmament of Hezbollah as a priority, with no mention of a ceasefire or the withdrawal of its forces from southern Lebanon.
“We want to destroy Hezbollah’s weapons and we want a real peace agreement that lasts for generations,” Netanyahu said on Saturday.
Qassem said the planned talks “require Lebanese consensus to shift our approach from non-negotiation to direct negotiations”, calling it a “free concession” to Israel and the US.
His speech came after hundreds of people protested against planned talks on Friday and Saturday in the capital Beirut. Protesters accused Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salaam of betraying the Lebanese people by negotiating direct talks with Israel while it continues its bombing campaign and expands its offensive.
The Israeli military said on Monday that its forces had completely surrounded the key southern town of Bint Jbeil, while Hezbollah continued to claim attacks against Israeli forces there.
Qassem said that northern Israeli areas “will not be safe, no matter which areas of Lebanon the Israelis enter”. He also accused Beirut of stabbing his group in the back by declaring Hezbollah’s military activities illegal at the beginning of the war.
“Israel and the US clearly said they want to disarm Hezbollah and strengthen the Lebanese army to fight it… but the army cannot do that,” Qassem said.
