Hezbollah chief urges unity, no talks with Israel amid Lebanon attacks

Naim Qassem says negotiating with Israel ‘under fire amounts to imposing surrender’ on Lebanon.Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has called for national unity as Israel continues its military assault on Lebanon, vowing to continue fighting “without limits” as Israeli aerial and ground attacks have killed more than 1,000 people across the country.In a statement on Wednesday, Qassem said Lebanon faced two choices: “either surrender and give up our land … or inevitable confrontation and resistance” against Israel.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Spain says Israel seeks to repeat ‘Gaza destruction’ in Lebanonlist 2 of 3US-Israel war on Iran: What’s happening on day 26 of attacks?list 3 of 3Canada tells Israel that Lebanon’s sovereignty ‘must not be violated’end of listQassem also said the country should not agree to negotiations with the Israeli government amid Israel’s continued bombardment of its northern neighbour.“Negotiating with the Israeli enemy under fire amounts to imposing surrender and stripping Lebanon of its capabilities, especially since negotiations are fundamentally rejected with an enemy that occupies land and continues daily aggression,” he said.“We call for national unity against the Israeli-American enemy under one title at this stage: stopping the aggression to liberate the land and the people. All other issues can be discussed afterwards.”Intensified Israeli attacks on Lebanon began in early March after Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israeli territory following the start of the Israel-war-on-Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38678" data-entity-type="event">US-Israel war on Iran on February 28.In addition to air strikes, the Israeli military has pushed deeper into Lebanese territory as part of a ground invasion that Israel says aims to root out Hezbollah fighters.The Lebanese armed group has continued to fire into northern Israel while clashing with Israeli troops on the ground in Lebanon.