Hezbollah chief rejects Israel talks as ‘surrender’ amid continued IDF strikes

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem purportedly said Wednesday that negotiating with Israel under fire would amount to “surrender” for Lebanon, and urged the government to reverse its ban on the party’s military activities. “When negotiations with the Israeli enemy are proposed under fire, this is an imposition of surrender,” Qassem said in a televised speech read on his behalf, rejecting the Lebanese president’s initiative to start direct negotiations “with an enemy that occupies our land and carries out daily attacks.” Qassem called on the Lebanese people to embrace “national unity,” saying this could be achieved by the government reversing its decision to ban Hezbollah’s military activities. The March 2 Beirut decision came hours after Hezbollah started launching rocket attacks at Israel for the first time since the November 2024 Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal, triggering massive Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon. The statement, read out on a Hezbollah-affiliated television station, said Hezbollah fighters were prepared to continue “without limits.” Hezbollah continued launching rockets and drones at Israel on Wednesday, repeatedly triggering sirens in northern communities, including two barrages of 10 rockets at Haifa Bay area. According to the IDF, some of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses while others were allowed to hit open areas, “according to protocol.” In a separate attack, two men in their 50s were lightly injured after a rocket launched by Hezbollah struck just outside the northern city of Karmiel, according to medics. Hezbollah has been firing an average of about 150 rockets per day, according to the IDF. Roughly two-thirds of the daily rocket fire has been directed at Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon and along the border, with the remaining third aimed at Israel. Qassem’s purported remarks came as Defense Minister Israel Katz said he and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir had approved a new series of targets for strikes in Iran and Lebanon, during an assessment Wednesday morning. During overnight airstrikes in Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force struck a Hezbollah command center in Beirut and gas stations owned by the terror group, the military said. The Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs was targeted following fresh evacuation warnings for the area. Elsewhere in Lebanon, the IDF said it hit several gas stations of Al-Amana, a fuel distribution company that is owned by Hezbollah and has been under US sanctions since February 2020. According to the military, the company “serves as a significant economic infrastructure for [Hezbollah’s] terror activity” and is used by the terror group to “refuel trucks transporting weapons and terrorists.” In a separate overnight airstrike, a Hezbollah rocket-launching squad was targeted after it fired projectiles at troops in southern Lebanon. The IDF said an Israeli Air Force drone identified the Hezbollah operatives after they launched rockets at troops, and a short while later struck and killed them. No soldiers were hurt by the rocket fire, the army added. Separately, several Hezbollah operatives were killed amid ongoing ground operations in southern Lebanon, the military said. In one overnight incident, troops of the 401st Armored Brigade exchanged fire with several Hezbollah operatives who had fired an anti-tank missile at them. According to the military, the Hezbollah gunmen were killed, and one IDF officer was lightly hurt in the exchange. In another incident, a Hezbollah weapons depot was destroyed by troops of the 7th Armored Brigade. A short while later, the military said several Hezbollah operatives fled the site and were targeted and killed in airstrikes. Troops of the Golani Brigade, meanwhile, killed an operative armed with an RPG and an assault rifle, who approached their area of operations, the army said. Also on Wednesday, the IDF announced that a commander in a Hezbollah-allied militia was captured by Israeli troops during an overnight raid on the Lebanese side of Mount Dov. The military said troops of the Egoz commando unit captured a cell commander from the Lebanese Resistance Companies during the raid on Tuesday night. He was taken to Israel to be questioned by the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504, which specializes in human intelligence. The Lebanese Resistance Companies is funded by Hezbollah and its members have taken direct part in attacks on Israeli troops, the military added. Since hostilities escalated amid the war with Iran, around 700 Hezbollah operatives, including hundreds of members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, have been killed, the IDF said Wednesday. Lebanon’s health ministry has said Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 people since the war began.