Lebanon tied any negotiations with Israel to ceasefire, engaging in talks ‘not treason,’ president says

Lebanon informed the US "from the very first moment" that a ceasefire is a necessary first step for any subsequent negotiations with Israel, President Joseph Aoun said Monday, stressing that engaging in talks “is not treason.”

“Some blame us for deciding to move toward negotiations on the grounds that there is no national consensus. I ask: when you went to war, did you first have national consensus?

"Even before the talks began, some started directing criticism and accusations of treason, claiming that we are entering the talks in a state of surrender. We say to them: wait until the negotiations begin, and then judge the outcome," he added in a statement carried by Lebanon's Al-Jadeed TV.

“Treason is committed by those who drag their country into war to serve external interests," he added.

Emphasizing that Beirut aims to put an end to war with Israel, Aoun said he will not accept a "humiliating" agreement.

The statements came shortly after Hezbollah Secretary-General Naem Qassem reiterated his group’s “categorical rejection” of direct talks between Lebanon and Israel.

“In this atmosphere of sacrifice and dignity and the defeat of the enemy, the (Lebanese) authority rushed into a humiliating and unnecessary free concession, whose only justification is submission,” Qassem claimed.

More than 2,500 people have been killed and over 1.6 million displaced by Israeli attacks across Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanese official figures.

A 10-day ceasefire was declared between Lebanon and Israel on April 17, though Tel Aviv repeatedly violated it.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said Lebanon and Israel agreed to extend the truce by three weeks following a second round of talks between the two sides in Washington.

Hezbollah has carried out a series of drone attacks targeting Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, citing Israel’s repeated violations of the truce.