Qassem, however, dismissed the upcoming talks, saying, \u201cThese negotiations are futile and require a Lebanese agreement and consensus,\u201d and accusing the Lebanese government of becoming \u201ca tool for Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t \u201cWe will not surrender,\u201d Qassem said as Hezbollah fighters faced off with advancing Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. \u201cWe will remain in the field until our last breath.\u201d<\/p>\n The Hezbollah chief said that the terror group \u201chas rebuilt itself\u201d after months of intensive Israeli strikes, and also warned that \u201cwhen the opportunity arises, we will capture enemy soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n Separately, a senior Hezbollah official on Monday vowed in an interview that the group will refuse to abide by any agreements that may result from the direct Lebanon-Israel talks.<\/p>\n Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of Hezbollah\u2019s political council, told The Associated Press that \u201cas for the outcomes of this negotiation between Lebanon and the Israeli enemy, we are not interested in or concerned with them at all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not bound by what they agree to,\u201d he added in a rare interview with international media. He spoke next to a cemetery as an Israeli drone buzzed overhead.<\/p>\n Though US-Iran talks in Pakistan over the weekend broke up without any agreement, Safa claimed Hezbollah has been informed that Iran \u201cwas able to obtain a cessation of attacks\u201d in the entire administrative region of Beirut, including the capital\u2019s southern suburbs \u2014 a Hezbollah-strong area known as Dahiyeh.<\/p>\n The IDF has not conducted any strikes against Hezbollah in Beirut since Wednesday night, though it has continued targeting the group\u2019s facilities across southern Lebanon, as the terror group fires a steady stream of rockets and drones at northern Israel.<\/p>\n \t Safa asserted that Hezbollah\u2019s actions in renewing the firing of rockets and drones at Israel last month were preemptive, because its leaders believed \u201cIsrael was preparing for a second battle with Lebanon\u201d with the aim of destroying Hezbollah.<\/p>\n It was \u201can appropriate moment for Hezbollah\u2026 to rebuild a new equation\u201d and restore deterrence against Israel, he said, denying any prior deals with Tehran that Hezbollah would enter the war if Iran was attacked.<\/p>\n Relations between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah \u2014 which is also a political party with a parliamentary bloc \u2014 have grown increasingly tense.<\/p>\n The government last year approved a plan to remove all weapons that are not property of the state \u2014 its security forces or military \u2014 and later said it had largely completed the task south of the Litani River, where Hezbollah is now fighting with Israeli forces. Israel pointed out that Beirut\u2019s claim of disarming Hezbollah in the area has been proven to be untrue by the fighting in recent weeks.<\/p>\n After March 2, the Lebanese government went further, declaring Hezbollah\u2019s armed wing illegal.<\/p>\n Safa said Hezbollah is currently not directly speaking with President Joseph Aoun or Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, but that all its communications are going through Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the head of the Hezbollah-allied Amal party.<\/p>\n Safa said that if there is a ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, Hezbollah \u2014 which calls itself a \u201cresistance\u201d movement against archenemy Israel \u2014 is ready to negotiate with the Lebanese government about the fate of its weapons.<\/p>\n \u201cThe issue of resistance weapons is a Lebanese matter that has nothing to do with Israel or the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tGraves bearing photos of Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli strikes are seen in a cemetery in Choueifat, Lebanon, April 13, 2026. (AP\/Emilio Morenatti)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26103567712086-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tWafiq Safa, a senior Hezbollah political council member, gestures as he speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Beirut, April 13, 2026. (AP\/Hussein Malla)<\/p>\n
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