Hezbollah rejects talks with Israel

BEIRUT:

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Wednesday in a televised speech read on his behalf that negotiating with Israel under fire amounts to imposed surrender on Lebanon, and urged the government to reverse its ban on the party's military activities.

The speech, aired on a Hezbollah affiliated television station, he called for unity against Israel and stressed that Hezbollah fighters were prepared to continue "without limits".

"When negotiations with the Israeli enemy are proposed under fire, this is an imposition of surrender," Qassem said, 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 March 2 decision to ban Hezbollah's military activities.