BEIRUT, November 20. /TASS/. Ending aggression against Lebanon and respecting its sovereignty are the conditions that Israel should meet to achieve a truce, Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said in televised remarks.
"We received the negotiating document, read it carefully and made comments on it. Our response was presented to the US envoy," he said on Al Jadeed television. "Whether it will lead to a ceasefire depends on Israel's response because any agreement with Israel depends on two conditions: cessation of aggression and respect for Lebanese sovereignty."
Qassem said Hezbollah fighters will continue to fight until Israel halts hostilities.
"The resistance will attack the enemy regardless of whether the talks succeed or not," the politician said.
He mentioned that Hezbollah had earlier agreed to a US-French proposal for a 60-day truce, but Israel responded by assassinating the group’s former leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, on September 27.
"We have two options: fight or surrender," Qassem said. "So we will stay on the battlefield and make the enemy pay a higher price."
He warned that Hezbollah fighters "will strike the center of Tel Aviv in response to every bombardment of Beirut."
According to Qassem, Hezbollah will enlist the help of friendly countries to rebuild the cities and villages that were demolished in the south. He assured the people that were affected that "the whole of Lebanon will become even more beautiful and nicer." The secretary-general also said that the Shiite group "will make an effective contribution" to the election of Lebanon’s new president.