Ahmad Assi, 29, cries on the grave of his friend Hassan Ali Badawi, killed in a Israeli strike, during his funeral in Choueifat, Lebanon, on Monday. Emilio Morenatti - AP.

By Kareem Chehayeb | The Associated Press

BEIRUT- Hezbollah's leader urged Lebanon on Monday to step down from scheduled direct talks with Israel set to take place in Washington, the first in decades.

Naim Kassem made the remarks in a televised address on the eve of the scheduled meeting between Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors to the U.S., as both sides set a framework for negotiations.

The latest round of fighting was sparked by Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel on March 2, after the U.S. and Israel attacked the militant group's patron, Iran.

At least 2,055 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the Health Ministry said, among them 252 women, 165 children and 87 medical workers, while 6,588 others were wounded. More than 1 million people are displaced.

The Lebanese government, which says is committed to disarming Hezbollah, called for direct talks early on in the war, but to no avail. Last week, Israel announced their approval of talks, but both sides don't appear to be on the same page.

Lebanon hopes for a ceasefire as a prerequisite, similar to Iran and U.S. talks brokered by Pakistan. However, Israel has framed the talks as peace negotiations with Hezbollah's disarmament as a priority item, with no mention of a ceasefire or a withdrawal of its forces from southern Lebanon.

"We refuse negotiations with the Israeli entity. These negotiations are pointless," Kassem said in a televised address, calling it a "free concession" to Israel and the United States. "The opportunity is still there. We call for a historic and heroic position to cancel these negotiations."

Kassem called for a return to the ceasefire that halted the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024. Talks were done indirectly through a mechanism with the United States, France and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon mediating.

The Hezbollah leader slammed Lebanon's president, prime minister and Cabinet for criminalizing the group's military activities and their ongoing diplomatic approach with Israel, saying that "it did not take us any step forward." He also criticized the government for a decision to banish Iran's ambassador from the country and criminalize the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's presence.

"We will let the front line speak," Kassem said.

Fierce fighting rocked the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil on Monday, as Israeli troops appeared to encircle the area while Hezbollah militants launched rockets and artillery in an effort to push them back.

The clashes in the hilly town that overlooks the U.N.-mandated Blue Line dividing the two countries just over 2 miles (3 kilometers) away have intensified over the past week, after Iran and the United States agreed to a temporary truce. On Tuesday, Lebanon and Israel's ambassadors to the U.S. are set to meet in Washington for an in-person meeting in a bid to kick off a landmark series of direct negotiations.

Israel has scaled back its attacks in Lebanon, especially in Beirut, after a series of deadly strikes without warning hit the heart of the capital in some of its busiest residential and commercial areas, killing more than 350 people.