Lebanon’s president has called for direct negotiations with Israel to end the escalating conflict with Hezbollah, delivering an unprecedented rebuke of the Iran-backed group for dragging the country into a wider regional war that has already killed hundreds and displaced more than 700,000 people.
President Joseph Aoun outlined a four-point plan during a virtual meeting with senior European Union officials on Monday, proposing a “complete truce” coinciding with Hezbollah’s disarmament, international assistance for the Lebanese Armed Forces, and then direct talks between Lebanon and Israel “under international sponsorship”.
A spokesperson for Aoun told the BBC that Lebanon was ready to negotiate, but not while the country remained under Israeli fire.
Israeli officials showed little immediate interest. The government did not comment, and Joshua Zarka, Israel’s ambassador to France, said Tuesday that Beirut had not taken meaningful steps toward disarming Hezbollah.
“What would end it is the disarmament of Hezbollah — and that is a choice for the Lebanese government,” Zarka said.
‘They Wanted the Collapse of Lebanon’
Aoun’s remarks included unusually blunt criticism of Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite militia and political movement that has long dominated Lebanese politics.
Referring to Hezbollah as an “armed faction,” Aoun said it gave “no weight to Lebanon’s interests or to the lives of its people” and wanted the “collapse of the Lebanese state under aggression and chaos”.
The accusation follows the government’s declaration last week that Hezbollah’s military operations were illegal — a landmark shift in a country where the group has operated as a state within a state for decades. But Lebanon currently lacks the capacity to disarm Hezbollah on its own.
The War Widens
Two days after the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran began on February 28, Hezbollah entered the conflict by firing rockets and drones into northern Israel. The group said it was retaliating for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Aoun described it as a deliberate ambush set for Lebanon and its army, designed to draw Israeli forces into another incursion.
If so, it worked. Israel said Hezbollah’s attack justified launching a broader campaign, including repeated airstrikes and commando raids inside Lebanese territory. The military has vowed to continue until Hezbollah is disarmed.
At least 486 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since then, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Lebanon.
More than 700,000 people have been displaced, including 200,000 children, the United Nations reported. “Some of them are on the roads. They have no shelter and not even the most basic necessities of life,” Aoun said.
The Human Toll
Ahmed al-Halabi, a father of two from the Dahieh area of south Beirut, fled with his extended family in the middle of the night as missiles struck nearby.
“We were running away from the bombing! There’s no safety!” he told the BBC. “I have little kids and the living conditions were already bad. You can only imagine how it is during wartime. I just want to keep my kids safe.”
His family is now living in a school in central Beirut converted into a shelter.
“This is the second time my kids have experienced this and they have developed psychological trauma,” Ahmed said. “The adults can live with this. The kids cannot.”
The Ceasefire That Failed
A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was agreed in November 2024 under U.S. and French mediation, but it has largely failed to hold. Israel has continued near-daily strikes, accusing Hezbollah of trying to rearm and rebuild its presence.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Lebanese government directly on X: “It is your responsibility to enforce the ceasefire agreement and it is your responsibility to disarm Hezbollah.”
Aoun’s call for negotiations is a direct response — but without Israeli buy-in, and without the capacity to disarm Hezbollah alone, Lebanon’s proposal may go nowhere.
Hezbollah has said it will continue to attack Israel, whatever the cost. The war grinds on. And for families like Ahmed’s, there is no end in sight.
