Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has sharply rebuked Iran for treating Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with the United States, and called out Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem, asserting that the Lebanese people were exhausted by decades of conflict and deserved to live in peace. Aoun made the remarks in an interview with CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour, released by the Lebanese Presidency on Friday, 6 June.

Aoun's Rebuke of Iran and Hezbollah

'This is not your country; it is our country,' Aoun said, making clear that it was unacceptable for regional powers to advance their own interests at Lebanon's expense while Lebanese civilians continued to suffer deaths, displacement, and destruction. His remarks came a day after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stated that Tehran's primary condition for accepting the 8 April truce with the United States and Israel was a comprehensive ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon.

Aoun directly challenged Qassem's claim to represent the Lebanese people, saying, 'They are the Lebanese people, not Naim Qassem's people' — a pointed response to Qassem's statements opposing a ceasefire agreement and threatening to bring down the government through street protests. The Lebanese president stressed that negotiations remain the only viable path to ending the conflict with Israel.

The Hezbollah Question and Lebanon's Sovereignty

Aoun acknowledged that the Lebanese state must address Hezbollah's armed presence domestically, but insisted this required tackling root causes — including Israel's withdrawal from Lebanese territory and a definitive end to hostilities. He noted that the overwhelming majority of Lebanese, across all sects and regions, were fatigued by the prolonged conflict. This marks one of the most direct public confrontations between a sitting Lebanese president and Hezbollah's leadership in recent memory.

Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 13 in Southern Lebanon

Also on Friday, a series of Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks across southern Lebanon killed at least 13 people and wounded 15 others, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA). The strikes hit at least eight towns, including Doueir, Habboush, and Burj Qalaouiyah.

In the Tyre district, an airstrike near Jabal Amel Hospital destroyed a building housing a bank and wounded 12 civilians. Separately, Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Center confirmed that an Israeli airstrike on the town of Zebdine killed five people, including a woman and a medical staffer, and wounded two others.

Cumulative Toll and IDF Statement

According to Lebanon's Public Health Ministry Emergency Operations Center, the cumulative death toll from Israeli attacks since 2 March has reached 3,558 killed and 10,870 wounded. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed in a statement that it killed two Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon on Friday, saying the two were involved in an earlier clash with troops from Sayeret Givati, an IDF elite reconnaissance and special operations unit, during which an Israeli officer was seriously wounded and the unit's commander sustained light injuries. The IDF added that it subsequently struck additional Hezbollah infrastructure targets in the area.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted Israeli troop and vehicle positions near Shaqif (Beaufort) Castle and other areas. As the diplomatic and military pressures converge, Lebanon's political future — and its sovereignty — hang in a precarious balance.