Beirut (Lebanon) (AFP) – Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday accused Hezbollah of working to “collapse” the state and expressed Beirut’s readiness for “direct negotiations” with Israel, drawing the backing of his Syrian counterpart for his goal of disarming the Iran-backed group.

Lashing out at Hezbollah over its March 2 attack against Israel, which has drawn a devastating Israeli retaliation, Aoun told European officials “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”.

To stop the war, the Lebanese president proposed a four-point initiative and called on the international community to help implement it.

The plan included “establishing a full truce” with Israel, “logistical support” for the army to disarm Hezbollah, and “direct negotiations (with Israel) under international auspices”.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa endorsed his Lebanese counterpart on Monday saying, “We stand alongside Lebanese president Joseph Aoun in disarming Hezbollah”.

But the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc Mohamed Raad vowed on Monday evening that his group would “defend our existence whatever the cost”, saying the group has “no other option to preserve honour, pride and dignity than the option of resistance”.

The statements came as the war between Israel and Hezbollah pushed into a second week, with Israel carrying out heavy strikes on a financial firm linked to the group.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Lebanese authorities said on Monday that Israel’s attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded at least 1,313.

AFP has not been able to carry out a detailed breakdown of the figures.

According to the government, more than 660,000 people have registered as displaced, with 120,000 sleeping at official shelters as of Monday.