Hezbollah says Israel 'cannot impose conditions on us' as ceasefire talks continue
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem vowed retaliation for recent Israeli strikes in Lebanon would be carried out in central Tel Aviv.
In short:
The Israeli government says it wants "the freedom to act" within Lebanon to enforce any violations of a proposed ceasefire agreement between it and Hezbollah.
In a televised speech, Hezbollah chief in Lebanon Naim Qassem said the group rejected Israel's demands but said it had reviewed and provided feedback on a US-drafted truce proposal.
It came as the US used its veto power in the UN Security Council to strike down a ceasefire resolution.
Hezbollah's Lebanon chief Naim Qassem has promised his forces will continue fighting against Israel until the Netanyahu government shows "seriousness" in negotiations, as the two sides refuse to budge on key elements of a proposed ceasefire in Lebanon.
Qassem also vowed Hezbollah would conduct "revenge" for recent Israeli strikes on Beirut, warning the response would happen in "central Tel Aviv".
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which flared initially after Hamas' October 7 attacks last year, intensified in September into a full ground and air assault on targets across Lebanon.
Hezbollah has responded by firing missiles into towns in north Israel.
Israel's military has been striking areas of Beirut as part of its campaign.
In recent days, American negotiators have sounded optimistic about a truce between the two sides, based off the framework of a 2006 United Nations agreement.
The proposed truce would see Hezbollah forces retreat 30 kilometres back from the Lebanon border with Israel.
But the Israeli government has argued for added conditions to the agreement, which would allow its forces to act inside Lebanese territory if Hezbollah encroaches into that zone.
Qassem on Wednesday rejected that suggestion, saying Israel should not be allowed to breach Lebanon's borders.
"The Israeli enemy cannot enter (Lebanese territory) whenever it wants", he said, adding that Israel "cannot impose conditions on us".
In a televised address, the Hezbollah leader said he had reviewed the US-drafted truce proposal and provided feedback.
On Wednesday, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said any ceasefire deal between the two sides would need to ensure the Netanyahu government had mechanisms to enforce the truce.
"In any agreement we will reach, we will need to keep the freedom to act if there will be violations," he said.
Mr Saar says the right to respond against Hezbollah must be part of any peace agreement.
US vetoes Gaza ceasefire resolution at United Nations
The United States used its veto power to strike down a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Israel's military and terror group Hamas have been locked in a deadly war in the small enclave, following Hamas' October 7 attacks last year that killed 1,206 people.
US ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood said the resolution was vetoed because America believed it would have emboldened Hamas.
"We made clear throughout negotiations we could not support an unconditional ceasefire that failed to release the hostages," he said.
The resolution demanded "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in the war between Israel and the Palestinian group, along with "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."
After the veto, Hamas declared the US was "directly responsible" for "genocidal war" in Gaza.
Nearly 44,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Gaza's civil defence agency said 17 people, including a baby, were killed in Israeli air strikes on Wednesday.
The baby was killed in night-time shelling of the Nuseirat refugee camp, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said, adding a shell killed two other people west of the camp in central Gaza.
A drone strike killed two people, including a 15-year-old girl, at a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in the northern city of Beit Lahia, he said.
The Israeli military said one of its soldiers was killed and another seriously wounded during combat in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Strikes kill at least 36 in historical Syrian city
Israeli strikes on the Syrian city of Palmyra killed at least 36 and left 50 wounded on Wednesday, according to Syrian state news agency SANA.
The Israeli military declined to comment on the strikes, which hit residential buildings and an industrial zone.
The Syrian defence ministry said the strikes caused "significant material damage".
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli strikes killed 41 people, many of them pro-Iran fighters from neighbouring Iraq.
Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.
Last week, the Israeli military said it had attacked transit routes on the Syrian-Lebanese border that it claimed were being used to transfer weapons to Hezbollah.
Palmyra's ancient city is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It was seized by Islamic State militants in 2015 and partially destroyed before it was recaptured by the Syrian army.
ABC/Reuters/AFP
By：ABC(责任编辑：admin)
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