“We categorically reject direct negotiations with Israel, and those in power should know that their actions will not benefit Lebanon or themselves,” Qassem said in a statement, calling on authorities to “back down from their grave sin that is putting Lebanon in a spiral of instability”.
“These direct negotiations and their outcomes are as if they do not exist for us, and they do not concern us in the slightest,” he added, saying “we will continue our defensive resistance for Lebanon and its people”.
“No matter how much the enemy threatens, we will not back down, we will not bow down, and we will not be defeated. “
Hezbollah on Sunday said it would respond to Israel’s “violations” of the ceasefire in Lebanon, rejecting accusations by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the pro-Iranian group was jeopardising the truce deal. Iran’s foreign minister departed Pakistan for Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday as mediators pressed to keep talks between Tehran and the US alive.
Iran through Pakistani mediators gave the US a new proposal on reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the ending of the war, with nuclear negotiations postponed for a later stage, Axios reported on Sunday, citing a US official and two sources with knowledge of the matter.