Hezbollah MP vows terror group will ‘thwart’ Lebanon-Israel talks as clashes persist

Hezbollah fires rockets and drones at troops, no injuries caused; IDF razes 80-meter tunnel in south Lebanon, strikes gunmen and seizes arms

IDF troops of the 401st Armored Brigade operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on May 3, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)
IDF troops of the 401st Armored Brigade operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on May 3, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)

A Hezbollah lawmaker on Sunday said that the terror group will be able to “thwart” the objectives of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, as the Iranian proxy fired several rockets and drones at IDF troops operating across the border despite a declared ceasefire.

Speaking at an event honoring killed Hezbollah operatives, Hassan Fadlallah said that “these negotiations with all their results do not concern us, and we will not implement them.”

“We have a free people and a steadfast resistance capable of thwarting all the objectives of these negotiations, which increase the sharp division in the country between the factions of our people and within the state itself,” Fadlallah said.

The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the US have held two meetings in Washington in recent weeks, the first of their kind in decades. Washington has urged Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, whose government seeks to disarm Hezbollah, to meet directly with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Aoun has so far avoided.

Hezbollah has strongly rejected the talks, with its leader Naim Qassem calling them a “sin.”

Fadlallah said on Sunday that “any new agreement that will be established in Lebanon must guarantee that our country will not be attacked in any way.”

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah speaks during an interview with an AFP journalist at the Lebanese Parliament in Beirut on April 20, 2026. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)

Hezbollah and Israel have continued to attack each other since US President Donald Trump first announced a ceasefire on April 16, which has now largely unraveled, though fighting remains at a lower level than before. On Saturday, the Lebanese army said its commander Gen. Rudolf Haykal met with US Gen. Joseph Clearfield, who heads the committee monitoring the ceasefire.

The participants at the meeting underlined the importance of the Lebanese army’s role and the need to support it during the current phase, the Lebanese statement added.

Several rockets and explosive drones were launched by Hezbollah at Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon overnight Saturday and on Sunday, the military said, adding that they exploded near the forces but did not cause any injuries.

Additionally, on Sunday, an IDF interceptor missile was fired at a suspected Hezbollah drone over an area of southern Lebanon where troops were deployed. The IDF said the results of the interception are under review.

Meanwhile, the IDF said on Sunday it razed an 80-meter-long Hezbollah tunnel in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon. The tunnel contained several rooms used by Hezbollah to reside in, the military said. After it was scanned, combat engineers destroyed the underground site.

The IDF also published footage showing strikes on Hezbollah gunmen who were spotted near troops stationed in southern Lebanon in recent days.

According to the military, troops of the elite Multi-Domain unit identified armed Hezbollah operatives in their area of operations in two incidents and struck and killed them using drones.

In another incident, the IDF said the Israeli Air Force conducted airstrikes against several operatives spotted in buildings by the troops.

The military said troops also struck and killed two Hezbollah gunmen in southern Lebanon on Saturday. Troops of the Givati Brigade identified the armed operatives in their area of operations.

The IDF said the Givati troops also located dozens of weapons in the past day, including assault rifles and anti-tank missiles, and other equipment.

At least one person and four rescuers were wounded by Israeli strikes on Sunday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

In separate statements, the ministry said a strike on Arabsalim killed at least one person and wounded three, including a child, and another strike on Srifa wounded five people, including four rescuers from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee, as the strike hit near one of their centers.

The ministry’s toll did not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

Israel has carried out massive airstrikes and pushed troops farther into Lebanon after Hezbollah, on March 2, began launching rocket attacks on Israel in support of its patron, Iran.

Smoke rising from the site of Israeli airstrikes in the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, Lebanon, on May 3, 2026. (AFP)

The terror group has said its renewed attacks on Israel were in response both to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran on February 28, and to Israel’s continued attacks and presence in Lebanon since a 2024 ceasefire deal — which Israel said came in response to ongoing violations.

Over 2,500 people have been killed and about a million displaced in Lebanon since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities. The IDF says it has killed over 1,900 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force.

Seventeen IDF soldiers and one Defense Ministry civilian contractor have been killed in southern Lebanon amid fighting against Hezbollah. Two civilians were also killed by Hezbollah rockets, and an Israeli civilian was mistakenly killed in the north by Israeli artillery shelling.

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