Hezbollah rejects ceasefire plan

Hezbollah rejected the ceasefire plan agreed upon by the Lebanese and Israeli governments in US-mediated negotiations, while Israel continued its attacks on southern Lebanon yesterday and said it would not withdraw from the south.

The United States said on Wednesday that Lebanon and Israel had agreed to implement a ceasefire, on the condition that Iran-backed Hezbollah cease fire and evacuate its fighters from areas of southern Lebanon near the border.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, whose Lebanese Shiite Muslim group is no stranger to the talks, said the negotiations were shameless, dismissing the Washington declaration as “a roadmap for the destruction of a part of the Lebanese people and the enslavement of the rest.”

"As long as there is occupation, resistance will continue," he said in a written statement.

Qassem said the ceasefire must also include southern Lebanon, where Israel has occupied a self-proclaimed security zone, which it says is aimed at protecting northern Israel from Hezbollah attacks.

Kassem said that cities in northern Israel will not be safe "as long as our villages are not safe, as long as they are bombed, destroyed, and as long as our people are killed."

The commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which founded Hezbollah in 1982, said that the “minimum requirement of resistance” is Israel’s withdrawal to the positions it held before the start of the war and the incursion of Israeli forces into the south.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier yesterday that Israel “will continue its fire and operations on the ground for the time being.” The Israeli military, in a warning to residents in the south, said it was continuing to target Hezbollah targets.

Katz said Israel would continue to “dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in the area” and had “the freedom of action, with US support, to carry out attacks in Beirut in response to attacks on Israeli communities and territory.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the US framework for a ceasefire was “the last chance to secure a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire.” Speaking before Qassem’s announcement, Aoun said the ceasefire could take effect within a day if approved by all parties, an apparent reference to Hezbollah.