Three conditions from Hezbollah now shape whether a fragile ceasefire can become durable. Dr Hussein al Hajj Hassan, a senior Hezbollah MP, told Sky News in May 2026 that Israel must stop strikes on Lebanon, withdraw its forces fully from Lebanese territory and secure the release of Lebanese prisoners before indirect talks can start. The demand comes as a U.S.-brokered pause in major hostilities has failed to halt smaller scale violence and negotiations between Israeli and Lebanese officials continue in Washington. Lebanon’s government has meanwhile set the end of the year as the deadline for its plan to remove Hezbollah’s weapons.

The political reading is straightforward and inconvenient. Dr Hussein al Hajj Hassan didn't couch Hezbollah’s demands as negotiable compromises. He told Sky News that talking while under attack was intolerable, calling negotiating under fire "humiliation" and saying indirect talks could begin only after three concrete steps had been met.

What Hezbollah wants

First, Israel must stop its attacks on Lebanese territory. Second, Israeli forces must withdraw fully from positions inside Lebanon. Third, Lebanese prisoners must be returned so civilians can go back to their villages and begin reconstruction. That sequence, Dr Hajj Hassan said, is a precondition for indirect negotiations rather than the basis for them.

The demand matters because the truce brokered by the United States around a month earlier hasn't ended smaller scale violence. Operational figures cited in Sky News underline the scale of the problem. UNIFIL and Lebanese authorities documented more than 5,700 Israeli ceasefire violations by land, sea and air during roughly a month. That tally included nearly 2,400 aerial strikes by warplanes and drones, Sky reported, and noted that 21 Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon since fighting resumed on March 2.

The human cost is stark. Lebanon’s ministry of public health has said fatalities since early March passed 3,000 people, a figure that includes children and medical staff. Those recent losses are set against the legacy of the Israel-Hezbollah war of November 2024. AP News reported that the 2024 conflict killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, displaced over 1 million and produced damage that the World Bank estimated would take about $11 billion to rebuild.

Mastheads

Domestic pressure and regional signalling

Hezbollah’s stance complicates diplomacy in Washington. Negotiations between Israeli and Lebanese officials are continuing, but Dr Hajj Hassan framed his group’s position as a categorical refusal to negotiate under active attack.

That posture reduces the space for incremental confidence building and raises the political cost of any talks that don't begin with clear security guarantees for Lebanon.

Inside Lebanon the political landscape is contested. In May 2026 the Lebanese government voted for a U.S.-backed plan to remove Hezbollah’s weapons by the end of the year. Hezbollah and its allies oppose the measure. Naim Kassem, Hezbollah’s deputy leader, told attendees at a televised Shiite religious event that the movement won't disarm while, in his words, aggression and occupation continue. He said the government decision served Israeli interests and warned that if internal strife followed, the government would be responsible.

Kassem also indicated that Hezbollah and its Shiite ally Amal had not yet mobilised supporters on the streets but suggested mass protests could be used to target foreign missions if the situation changed. He didn't give details of what would prompt such a step. Those remarks show that the standoff isn't purely a matter of battlefield tactics but of domestic legitimacy and bargaining power.

For Israel the picture is different. Israeli forces stayed in several overlooking positions inside Lebanon after the November 2024 ceasefire, and Israel accuses Hezbollah of seeking to rebuild military capabilities. That accusation, together with the Lebanese government’s disarmament timetable, is the political backdrop to the Washington talks.

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Negotiations in Washington continue while Lebanon’s government has set the end of the year as the deadline for its plan to remove Hezbollah’s weapons, making December 2026 a concrete hinge date for whether the three conditions set by Hezbollah are met and indirect talks can proceed. Originally reported by AP.

This article was created with AI assistance.