Lebanon's parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said no negotiations with Israel could take place until a permanent ceasefire was established, Reuters reported on May 4. The announcement comes as low-intensity fighting between Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel has continued, despite their April 16 ceasefire, which negotiators agreed to under pressure from the United States amid its negotiations with Iran.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict essentially began in 2023, although Lebanon and Israel have been technically at war since 1948. Hezbollah continues to fight to try to restore its lost legitimacy caused by two and a half years of fighting with inconclusive military success, while Israel aims to weaken Hezbollah to force its eventual disarmament and dissolution as a militant force on its border. The United States has tried to end the Lebanon conflict as part of the White House's regional agenda to stabilize the Middle East, and Iran has demanded that Lebanon be part of any final settlement between the United States and Iran to end their two-month conflict.