Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday accused Hezbollah of working towards the "collapse" of the state, expressing Beirut's readiness for "direct negotiations" with Israel to end the war.
Israel's renewed bombing campaign in Lebanon has killed at least 486 people and displaced more than half a million since it began a week ago, when Hezbollah launched rockets towards northern Israel after the killing of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
"Whoever launched those missiles wanted to bring about the collapse of the Lebanese state, plunging it into aggression and chaos... all for the sake of the Iranian regime's calculations and this is what we have thwarted so far and what we will continue working to bring down and foil," Aoun told top European officials in an online meeting.
He added that the party's rocket launches "were an almost transparent trap and ambush for Lebanon, the Lebanese state, and the Lebanese people".
To stop the war, the Lebanese president proposed a four-point initiative and called on the international community to help implement it.
It included "establishing a full truce" with Israel, "logistical support" for the army to disarm Hezbollah, and "direct negotiations (with Israel) under international auspices".
The Shia militant group's rocket fire came after a 15-month hiatus due to the November 2024 ceasefire, brokered by the US after more than a year of cross-border fighting with Israel.
Israel had continued to violate the ceasefire with near-daily attacks on south and east Lebanon, saying it was keeping Hezbollah weakened. Israeli soldiers also continued to occupy five border points in south Lebanon.
Despite efforts by the Lebanese government, Hezbollah — which has lost its leaders and senior commanders, thousands of fighters, and a large portion of its weapons stockpile — has refused to fully disarm.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa declared his support for his Lebanese counterpart in the latter's effort to disarm Hezbollah, state media reported.
"We stand alongside Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in disarming Hezbollah," Sharaa said during the video conference with European officials.
The Syrian army has bolstered its troop deployments on the country's borders with Lebanon and Iraq, a Syrian government source told AFP on Wednesday.
"We have reinforced our defensive forces along the border as a precaution to prevent the repercussions of the conflict from spilling over onto Syrian territory, and to combat cross-border organisations and prevent them from using Syrian soil," Sharaa said.