Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein al-Hajj Hasan told AFP on Thursday that the Lebanese government’s decision to hold direct talks with Israel was a “serious mistake” and called on Beirut to stop making concessions to Tel Aviv and Washington. His comments were made even before the announcement by US President Donald Trump about the agreement on a ten-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel, writes TASR.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the conflict with Israeli Ambassador to the US Jechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamádova Muawwad. The United States subsequently announced an agreement to begin direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.
Criticism of negotiations with Israel
“Direct negotiations with the enemy is a grave sin and a serious mistake and does not serve any interest of the country,” al-Hajj Hasan said, calling on the authorities to stop “this series of unnecessary concessions.”
Al-Hajj Hasan said that direct negotiations “do not serve the interests of the country or its citizens, so how can there be contact at the level that Trump talked about?” He criticized the government for agreeing to negotiations before securing a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Calls to change the attitude of the government
“If they are unable to abide by the only condition, which is a ceasefire, how will they negotiate with the Zionist entity (Israel) under American auspices?” he said.
The Lebanese government “insists on reaching a ceasefire through the Israelis and the Americans and not through Iran,” Al-Hajj Hasan added. He therefore called on the Lebanese authorities to stop “this series of unnecessary concessions to a treacherous and cunning enemy and a hypocritical, deceitful, evasive and lying America”.
Consequences of the conflict and the ceasefire
The Middle East conflict spread to Lebanon on March 2 when pro-Iranian Hezbollah fired rockets into the Jewish state. Israeli attacks have since killed hundreds of people and displaced more than a million Lebanese.
In the meantime, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Awn, the two leaders agreed on a ten-day truce.
