Lebanon asks Israel to discuss a plan to end the Hezbollah conflict.

 

Israel has repeatedly struck Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of Hezbollah, over the past week (Image:Reuters)

As part of a plan to put an end to the escalating conflict with Hezbollah, the president of Lebanon has called for direct negotiations with Israel. He also slammed the Iran-backed group for dragging the country into a larger regional war. The BBC was informed by a spokesperson for President Joseph Aoun that while Lebanon was still under Israeli fire, the country was prepared to negotiate. Speaking during a virtual meeting with senior European Union officials on Monday, Aoun outlined what he described as a path towards "permanent security and stability arrangements on our borders".

 The government did not immediately respond with a statement, and Israeli officials have shown little indication of supporting negotiations.

Read More: Why did US and Israel attack Iran and how long could the war last?

A "complete truce" would follow the disarmament of Hezbollah and international assistance for the Lebanese Armed Forces to help them regain control of "areas of tension" under the president's four-point plan. According to a statement, "and simultaneously, Lebanon and Israel [to] begin direct negotiations under international sponsorship, in order to execute the aforementioned plan." The United Nations reports that over 700,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon as a result of the war, including 200,000 children, and hundreds have been killed in Israeli strikes over the past nine days, according to Aoun. "Some of them are driving. He stated, "They do not even have the most fundamental necessities of life, including a shelter." Hezbollah was also the target of unusually blunt criticism from the president, who said that the Shia Muslim political movement and militia were acting against the interests of Lebanon. Aoun described Hezbollah as an "armed faction" and stated that it wanted the "collapse of the Lebanese state under aggression and chaos" and gave "no weight to Lebanon's interests or to the lives of its people."

Hezbollah has launched rockets and drones into Israel, most of which have been intercepted(Image: Reuters)

The remarks come after the government said last week that Hezbollah's military operations were illegal, but the state doesn't have the ability to disarm the group right now. "It is your responsibility to enforce the ceasefire agreement and it is your responsibility to disarm Hezbollah," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a direct address to the Lebanese government on X last week. Israel's ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, stated on Tuesday that Beirut had not made significant progress toward disarming the group. "At this stage, I'm not aware of any decision to enter negotiations to end this war," he said.  "The disarmament of Hezbollah, which is a choice for the Lebanese government, would put an end to it." Although a ceasefire was agreed to between Israel and Lebanon in November 2024 under US and French mediation, it has largely failed to hold.

 Accusing Hezbollah of attempting to reorganize and reestablish its presence, Israel has continued its nearly daily strikes in Lebanon. Two days after the start of the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran, Hezbollah entered the conflict by firing a number of rockets and drones into northern Israel.

 The group claimed that it was acting in response to the ongoing Israeli strikes and the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But Aoun described it as a deliberate ambush set for Lebanon and its army, designed to draw the Israeli military into another incursion.

About 700,000 people, including 200,000 children, have been forced to flee their homes in Lebanon(Image:EPA)

Israel claimed that the attack by Hezbollah justified the launch of a more extensive campaign against the organization, which included numerous air strikes and commando raids inside Lebanese territory. It has said the campaign will continue until Hezbollah is disarmed.

 Hezbollah has said it will continue to attack Israel, whatever the cost.

 The Lebanese health ministry reports that Israeli attacks in Lebanon have resulted in the deaths of at least 486 individuals since then. Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli military.

 For families caught in the crossfire, the escalation has brought renewed fear.

 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 fleeing the bombardment! There is no security!" he told the BBC.  "The living conditions were already bad, and I have young children. You can only imagine how it is during wartime.  I just want my kids to be safe. Ahmed is currently residing in a shelter-turned-school in the center of the capital. "This is the second time my kids have experienced this and they have developed psychological trauma.  Adults can tolerate this. The children can't."

Source: BBC