BEIRUT, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Tuesday that the group will continue fighting "regardless of how long it takes or how great the sacrifices," stressing that Hezbollah "will not return to the pre-March 2 phase."
"We will not leave the battlefield and will turn it into a nightmare for Israel," Qassem said in a televised address to Hezbollah members.
He also called for indirect negotiations with Israel, as direct talks would amount to "free gains for Israel and free concessions from the Lebanese state."
Such negotiations should prioritize halting Israeli attacks, securing Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, deploying the Lebanese army south of the Litani River, releasing prisoners, facilitating the return of displaced residents, and launching reconstruction efforts, Qassem said.
Any potential agreement between Iran and the United States that includes ending attacks on Lebanon could become a strong opportunity to stop the war, he said.
Hezbollah's weapons are an internal Lebanese matter to be addressed within a national defense strategy after Lebanon's demands are achieved, Qassem added.
A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect last month following weeks of cross-border fighting starting from March 2 tied to broader regional tensions triggered by U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Despite the ceasefire, at least 380 people, including 22 children and 39 women, have been killed in Lebanon due to Israeli attacks since the ceasefire, Lebanese news website Elnashra reported Tuesday, citing Lebanon's Health Ministry.
The cumulative death toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 has risen to around 2,900 people, according to Elnashra.
Also on Tuesday, the Israeli military said its Air Force intercepted a drone launched "from the east," with state-owned Kan TV News reporting that the interception took place near the Red Sea resort city of Eilat.
No sirens were sounded, "in accordance with protocol," the military said, without elaborating on where the drone was launched from. ■
