Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged sharp rhetoric and continued military strikes across the Lebanese border, with Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warning that Hezbollah's defiance would cause fire to "burn all of Lebanon," while the Iran-backed group's leader flatly rejected ongoing peace negotiations and vowed to continue fighting.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem described Lebanon's direct talks with Israel as a "grave sin" and laid out sweeping preconditions for any ceasefire, including a full Israeli military withdrawal, the release of prisoners, and the return of displaced people. "We will not return to the pre-March status quo," Qassem said. "No matter what the enemy threatens, we will not retreat, we will not bow down, we will not be defeated." Katz responded that Qassem was "playing with fire" and warned that if the Lebanese government continued to shelter behind Hezbollah, the consequences would be catastrophic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu separately said Hezbollah's rockets and drones remained a central security threat requiring ongoing military and technological responses.

The latest escalation began on 2 March, when Hezbollah resumed attacks on Israel following US-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, drawing Lebanon into the wider regional conflict. Lebanon, officially at war with Israel for decades — the two countries signed only an armistice after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war — has since outlawed Hezbollah's military activities and held its first direct negotiations with Israel since 1983. Those talks, held in Washington between the two countries' US ambassadors, led to a ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump, which has since been extended for three weeks. Despite the truce, Israel has continued strikes on what it describes as Hezbollah infrastructure in the eastern Bekaa Valley and in southern Lebanese towns including Bint Jbeil, Tibnin and Yater, while Hezbollah has claimed multiple attacks on Israeli forces operating inside Lebanese territory. Lebanese authorities say Israeli strikes have killed 2,521 people and wounded 7,804 since 2 March.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who has faced fierce criticism from Hezbollah over his pursuit of direct talks, pushed back forcefully, saying that those who dragged Lebanon into war for "foreign interests" were the ones committing treason — a pointed implicit rebuke of Hezbollah. "I will not accept reaching a humiliating agreement," Aoun said, adding that his aim was an armistice similar to the 1949 agreement. Katz, however, accused Aoun of "gambling with Lebanon's future" by not moving swiftly to disarm Hezbollah.

The confrontation comes as the United Nations human rights office warned that both sides may have committed serious violations of international humanitarian law. A UN report covering the first three weeks of the current escalation documented Israeli strikes on residential buildings that killed entire families, instances where warnings were absent or ineffective, and Hezbollah's use of unguided rockets incapable of distinguishing military from civilian targets. The UN also said that targeted killings of journalists could amount to war crimes; an Israeli strike on Wednesday killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil in southern Lebanon, the ninth journalist killed in the country this year. The fragile ceasefire and international legal scrutiny underscore how the conflict risks broader destabilisation at a moment when diplomatic efforts remain deeply contested on all sides.