Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar denied reports on Sunday that Israel and Lebanon are set to hold direct talks in the coming days amid the fighting with Hezbollah, and demanded that Beirut first act against the terror group on its soil.

Sa’ar’s comments, made as he visited the site of an Iranian missile impact in the northern Bedouin town of Zarzir, came as Hezbollah continued to fire rockets and drones at Israel, setting off warning sirens as far south as Tel Aviv and sending large swaths of the country running for shelter.

Israel, meanwhile, continued to strike at Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, with reports saying it was eyeing a wider offensive in the country’s south.

Sa’ar’s appearance followed reports that Beirut and Jerusalem are expected to discuss an agreement on confronting Hezbollah and possibly on broader cooperation. Asked by a Reuters reporter if he could confirm those reports, the foreign minister said, “No.”

“If the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army want to change something, they should do something in order to stop the attacks being done by Hezbollah from Lebanese territory,” Sa’ar said. “Until now, they hadn’t done anything significant in order to stop” Hezbollah’s attacks.

Lebanon has urged Hezbollah to disarm and drew up a plan to get the terror group to lay down its weapons. But Sa’ar claimed that ever since the November 2024 US-brokered ceasefire with the Iran-backed terror group, “Lebanon hadn’t really done what it should have done in order to dismantle Hezbollah, and we see now the results. And we also expect to take some serious steps from their side to stop the shootings on Israel. This is the practical thing to do right now.”

“We are all for peace and normalization in the future, including with Lebanon. I think the problem in Lebanon is Hezbollah. We don’t have real disputes with the state of Lebanon. We have some minor border disputes that can be solved quite easily. But the problem is Hezbollah,” he added.

Sa’ar’s comments appeared to conflict with a report Sunday from Army Radio that former strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, a close aide of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recently visited Saudi Arabia to discuss with senior Saudi officials an initiative for a possible agreement with the Lebanese government.

Dermer has reportedly been enlisted to head the Lebanon file for the prime minister. According to Army Radio, Lebanon, the US, and France are involved in the efforts to agree on what the Lebanon-Israel relationship could look like after the conflict with Hezbollah ends.

The anti-Hezbollah government in Lebanon wants to hold direct talks with Israel in a third country, said the........

© The Times of Israel