Lebanese Prime Minister Accuses Hezbollah of Serving Israel Amid Renewed Talks

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam publicly charged Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem with “serving Israel” rather than Lebanon’s sovereignty on the day of the seventh round of U.S.-backed talks between Beirut and Jerusalem. The exchange unfolded against a backdrop of renewed hostilities that began when the Iran-backed group first struck Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas’s incursion into southern Israel.

The Jerusalem Post

Hezbollah’s initial attack sparked a fragile ceasefire later that year, which held until the group ended it in 2026 following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The conflict saw the September 2024 assassination of Hezbollah’s long-time secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, an event described by senior researcher Harel Chorev (Moshe Dayan Center) as a “total miscalculation” that weakened the organization. Chorev noted that Hezbollah lost 24 villages, largely due to the destruction of its extensive subterranean infrastructure.

The Jerusalem Post

A poll conducted by the International Information Company in May indicated strong support for a peace deal with Israel among Lebanon’s confessional groups: 84 % of Druze, 77 % of Maronites, and 72 % of Orthodox Christians favored an agreement. In June, 400 Lebanese public figures signed the “A Call to Save Lebanon” initiative, demanding that only state actors hold arms and that negotiations be conducted exclusively by the government.

The Jerusalem Post

Salam’s statements on X/Twitter framed Hezbollah’s actions as the “greatest service rendered to Israel,” arguing that the group’s unilateral decisions have given Israel pretexts to attack Lebanese territory and civilians. Qassem, in turn, accused the Lebanese state of making “free concessions” and called for direct dialogue with the resistance. Chorev, speaking to The Jerusalem Post, argued that the war was “terrible for Hezbollah,” citing the loss of leadership, infrastructure, and popular support.

The Jerusalem Post

• “The truth, however, is that the greatest service rendered to Israel has been provided by those who unilaterally dragged Lebanon into the absurd wartime adventures of the ‘support front,’ giving Israel pretexts to attack our country, violate its sovereignty, destroy its cities and villages, kill its residents and displace hundreds of thousands,” — Nawaf Salam, lebanese prime minister

The Jerusalem Post

• “Those who monopolized the decision to go to war and still seek to seize the state’s decision, tying Lebanon to external calculations and axes while disregarding the interests of their own community, as well as those of Lebanese as a whole, are in no position to hand out certificates of patriotism, let alone sovereignty,” — Nawaf Salam, lebanese prime minister

The Jerusalem Post