Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly told senior officials in U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration in private talks that a possible agreement between the United States and Iran would not affect Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to Israel Hayom, Netanyahu said any U.S.-Iran arrangement would not apply to the “Lebanese front,” and Israel would continue using the current opportunity to weaken Hezbollah. The stated aim is to push Hezbollah back beyond the Litani River; Netanyahu also rejected a French proposal that would have halted the fighting in exchange for French assistance in resolving the situation. An unnamed Israeli official was quoted as saying the United States had accepted Israel’s position and that “Lebanon” did not matter to Trump.
The comments were placed in the context of ongoing efforts toward a U.S.-Iran peace plan: Trump has sent Tehran a 15-point proposal that includes giving up nuclear weapons and enriched uranium and ending support for regional proxies such as Hezbollah, and he has said a deal could come “pretty soon.” Iran has also denied involvement in a Pakistani proposal to host direct U.S.-Iran talks; Iran’s Consulate General in Mumbai said on Monday, March 30, 2026, that no direct negotiations with the United States had taken place and that only demands described as excessive and unreasonable had been conveyed through intermediaries. The escalation is linked in the report to a joint Israeli-U.S. strike on Iran that it says killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; Hezbollah then struck Tel Aviv, and Israel launched a major operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon that the report says has killed more than 1,238 people.
Lebanon’s government previously said members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were directing Hezbollah’s operations in Lebanon, had entered the country illegally, and had dragged Lebanon into the war, and it said it had banned Hezbollah and its military activities while urging Israel to engage the Lebanese government and end hostilities. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected reports of negotiations with Israel, calling talks “under fire” an imposed surrender, and urged the government to reverse its ban on the group’s military activities. The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran demanded Israel halt strikes on Hezbollah as part of guarantees to end the war, and Reuters cited six regional sources as saying Tehran had told mediators as early as mid-March that Lebanon must be included in any ceasefire arrangement.
Source: WION