Dubai, UAE — Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected a conditional ceasefire announced by Lebanese and Israeli envoys on Thursday, demanding a comprehensive halt to hostilities and a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory while threatening further attacks on northern Israel.
Qassem’s remarks came after Lebanese and Israeli representatives meeting in Washington agreed to a framework that would establish pilot zones in southern Lebanon under the exclusive control of the Lebanese army, according to a statement issued after the talks.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the proposal as the “last chance” to achieve a final and comprehensive ceasefire, but Hezbollah dismissed the initiative, arguing that any withdrawal by the group before a complete Israeli pullback would amount to surrender.
“The ceasefire must be comprehensive … without the Israeli enemy having the freedom to kill,” Qassem said in a televised address, calling on the Lebanese government to end what he described as the “farce and humiliation” of direct negotiations with Israel.
He warned that northern Israeli communities would remain vulnerable as long as Lebanese villages continued to face attacks.
The latest exchange underscored the fragility of efforts to end fighting that erupted after Hezbollah entered the conflict in March. A previous ceasefire announced in April has repeatedly broken down, with Israeli forces maintaining positions inside southern Lebanon and Hezbollah continuing attacks across the border.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces would continue military operations and retain the ability to strike targets in Beirut if attacks on Israeli territory persisted.
The violence continued on Thursday, with Lebanon’s health ministry reporting eight deaths in Israeli strikes. Lebanon’s state news agency said more than 40 locations in the country’s south and east were targeted.
The Israeli military said one soldier was killed in combat in southern Lebanon, bringing the number of Israeli military fatalities in the conflict to 27.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said a Serbian peacekeeper was killed and two others wounded after one of its bases was hit overnight. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the incident and called for an investigation.
Arab League warns over Israeli policies
Separately, the General Secretariat of the Arab League warned that Israeli occupation plans and policies violated international law and threatened regional security and stability.
In a statement marking the 59th anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the League said the commemoration came amid continued Israeli military operations in Gaza, settlement expansion plans in the occupied West Bank, and attacks on Lebanese and Syrian territories.
The organisation said achieving lasting peace required ending Israel’s occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 and establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital under a two-state solution framework.
The League also called on the international community to pressure Israel to halt what it described as illegal measures, occupation policies and settlement activities.
