BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that only developments on the battlefield, not political moves, would bring an end to the hostilities between the Lebanese armed group and the Israeli military.
“I will tell you very clearly, our conviction is that only one thing can stop this war of aggression, and that is the battlefield,” said Qassem, who was elected as Hezbollah’s secretary general following the killing of his predecessor Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli strikes in September.
He said that he did not believe that “political action” would bring about an end to the more than year-long conflict, playing out in parallel with Israel’s war in Gaza.
In a pre-recorded televised address, Qassem said there would be a road to indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state only if Israel decided to stop its attacks on Lebanon.
“When the enemy decides to stop the aggression, there is a path for negotiations that we have clearly defined – indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and Speaker (of parliament Nabih) Berri,” said Qassem.
He said those talks could only proceed if they guaranteed “the protection of Lebanese sovereignty in full, without anything missing,” but did not provide further details.
Israel says it aims to return residents displaced from northern Israel to their homes and ensure that Iran-backed Hezbollah will no longer pose a threat to Israel’s security.
Last week, Israeli public broadcaster Kan published a draft U.S. proposal on a 60-day truce that included a “side letter” between the U.S. and Israel, granting Israel the right to take action against imminent threats to its security in Lebanon.
Lebanese officials told Reuters that Israel’s insistence on “direct enforcement” of a deal would breach state sovereignty.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Sharon Singleton)