Qassem threatens 'other options' if diplomacy fails

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem has said in a speech broadcast overnight that he could not accept continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon, a day after Israel’s first strike on Beirut since a November ceasefire.

"This aggression must end. Israel... bombed Beirut's southern suburbs for the first time since the truce... we cannot allow this to continue," Qassem said in a televised address.

"If Israel believes it can impose a new equation by using false pretexts... to attack the south, the Bekaa and the southern suburbs of Beirut, this is unacceptable," he added.

The Beirut strike came after rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Israel on Friday, testing the fragile ceasefire.

Hezbollah has denied involvement in the rocket fire.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz swiftly hit back, threatening fresh attacks on the Lebanese capital to punish rocket fire on northern Israel, regardless of the perpetrator.

"If there is no calm in Kiryat Shmona and communities in Galilee (northern Israel), there will be no calm in Beirut," he said.

Israel has continued to carry out strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon in the months since the ceasefire, striking what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement.

Following the Beirut strike, Hezbollah canceled a rally it had been due to hold in the southern suburbs on Friday.

"It is still possible to resolve the situation through political and diplomatic means, but... there is a limit to everything," Qassem warned, calling on the Lebanon state to act.

If "the Lebanese state fails to achieve the necessary results politically, we will be forced to resort to other options," he added, without elaborating.

"We fully complied and we have no presence south of the Litani but Israel did not abide. Israel is carrying aggressions every day," Qassem said.

"These (Israeli strikes) are not violations. They are an aggression that crossed all limits," Qassem added. He said Israel appears to be pressuring Lebanon to normalize relations with it, a move the Hezbollah totally rejects.

"Israel will not get during peace time what it was not able to achieve by war," he said. "Let everyone know that this resistance (Hezbollah) is present and ready and at the same time is committed to the agreement."

"We will not allow anyone to deprive us from using our force and capabilities to confront this enemy," said Qassem. He added that Hezbollah "is not weak in facing the projects of America and Israel."

"Our patience so far aims to give a chance to solutions that could reduce the pains and casualties," Qassem said.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Israel was due to complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five places it deems "strategic."

The agreement also required Hezbollah to pull its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

The Lebanese Army has deployed in the south as the Israeli army pulled back.

Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel by its Hamas allies ignited the war in Gaza

The Israel-Hezbollah conflict exploded into all-out war last September when Israel carried out waves of airstrikes and killed most of the militant group's senior leaders. The fighting killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 60,000 Israelis.