Attack on Hizbullah headquarters in Beirut
Photo: Reuters
Hizbullah rejects ceasefire terms
Member of group’s central committee says ‘Israeli demand to see Lebanese army deploy along border matter for Lebanese to settle themselves’; when asked whether Nasrallah, was still in Lebanon despite Israeli efforts to target him, he says, ‘our leadership and Nasrallah are at the heart of the battle’
Hizbullah on Monday rejected a ceasefire on terms dictated by Israel.
“We accept no conditions for a ceasefire, whatever the pressure," Abdullah Kasir, a member of Hizbullah's central committee, told AFP.
Sources in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said during the weekend that the possibility of a ceasefire will not be considered before three conditions are met: The release of the kidnapped IDF soldier’s by Hizbullah, the cessation of rocket attacks on Israel from Lebanon and the disarming of Hizbullah in accordance with UN Resolution 1559.
Kasir said Israel's demand to see the Lebanese army deploy along the border with Israel, replacing Hizbullah who currently control the area, was a matter for the Lebanese to settle themselves.
‘More surprises coming’
He added that the two Israeli soldiers, abducted in a cross-border raid by Hizbullah last Wednesday, were in "a secure place" but did not specify whether they were still in Lebanon.
Asked whether Hizbullah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was still in Lebanon despite Israeli efforts to target him, Kasir said that "Hizbullah's leadership and Nasrallah are at the heart of the battle…
"We will never leave, even if Lebanon is reduced to scorched earth."
Hizbullah, he said, was "ready to fight and to inflict painful blows on the enemy. The Islamic Resistance (Hizbullah's armed wing) has only begun to reveal its abilities and its forces."
Israel, he added, should brace for more "surprises", such as last Friday's anti-ship missile which stuck an Israeli Navy vessel off Lebanon and the rocket attacks on Haifa, Israel's third-largest city.
