Israel rejects talks as Hezbollah prepares for protracted conflict

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM – Israel has rejected diplomatic overtures by Lebanon to halt its escalating offensive against the Hezbollah militant group, demanding that negotiations take place only “under fire,” the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

The talks have so far not materialised because of disagreements over sequencing, with Beirut insisting on a “cessation of fire” before any meeting, while the Israeli government wants only to discuss the possibility of a cessation, the newspaper said.

In the meantime, four Lebanese sources said Lebanon’s Hezbollah is applying lessons from its last war with Israel as it braces for a possible full-scale Israeli invasion and a protracted conflict, returning to its roots in guerrilla warfare in south Lebanon.

Operating in small units, fighters from the Iran-backed group are avoiding the use of communication devices that could be at risk of Israeli tapping and are rationing the use of key anti-tank rockets as they engage Israeli troops, said the sources, who are familiar with Hezbollah military activities.

Some 15 months after Israel struck Hezbollah in their last war, the group sparked a new Israeli offensive last week by opening fire to avenge the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Heavily criticised in Lebanon for dragging the country into a war that has displaced 700,000 people, Hezbollah has framed its actions as “existential defence,” portraying them as a response to Israeli attacks that have continued since a 2024 ceasefire.

While Israel plans for the likely continuation of its Lebanon offensive after the Iran war, the four sources said Hezbollah’s calculations are based on Iran’s clerical leadership surviving the conflict, leading to a regional ceasefire in which it would be included.

Much of Hezbollah’s ground operations have been concentrated near the town of Khiyam, close to the intersection of Lebanon’s border with Israel and Syria, an area the group believes any Israeli land invasion could begin.

Reuters reported last week that Hezbollah’s elite Radwan fighters, who had withdrawn from the south following the 2024 ceasefire, had returned to the area.

Two Lebanese sources said that for every Hezbollah commander, four deputies had been appointed to ensure uninterrupted operations, demonstrating the group’s resilience despite heavy losses.

An Israeli security source noted that Hezbollah is stabilising its ranks despite the blows it has suffered. While Israel has eliminated several senior commanders, the group appears capable of making and executing operational decisions.

The Israeli military has struck hundreds of Hezbollah targets since March 2, including airstrikes in the south, Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, and the eastern Bekaa Valley. It has also increased troop deployments in south Lebanon, establishing “forward defensive positions” to guard against Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.

Two Israeli soldiers have already been killed in Lebanon. Hezbollah has responded with daily drone and rocket attacks on Israel.

Sources note that the group is carefully rationing its munitions while avoiding communications that could be intercepted, a lesson learned from the last conflict, when Israel booby-trapped hundreds of Hezbollah pagers and penetrated the group’s private phone network, according to Lebanese officials familiar with Hezbollah’s post-war investigation.

The group’s media office did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982, Hezbollah was the only Lebanese group to retain weapons at the end of the 1975-90 civil war, originally to fight Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon until their withdrawal in 2000. This role underpinned the group’s popularity among many Shiites, though its involvement in the current Iran war has drawn criticism from within its community.

Hezbollah faces pressure on multiple fronts. Greatly weakened during the 2024 war, it has been urged by the Lebanese state to disarm. Last week, Beirut formally banned its military activities. The loss of its Syrian ally, President Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December 2024, severed a critical supply route from Iran, further complicating operations.