The Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, commented on Washington's statement regarding the ceasefire in Lebanon, saying that "the party is only concerned with stopping the comprehensive aggression, securing a ceasefire, and ensuring Israel's withdrawal."

He stressed that "the ceasefire must be comprehensive, without separating the south from the rest of Lebanon or granting the Israeli enemy the freedom to kill in Lebanon," adding: "As long as the occupation exists, the resistance will continue."

In a statement, Qassem said: "The result of the futile, humiliating, and disgraceful direct negotiations for Lebanon, which are completely rejected by broad segments of the Lebanese people, came in the form of the Washington Declaration, which sets out the basic principles that America and Israel envision for Lebanon's submission to the Greater Israel project."

Negotiations between Lebanon and Israel in Washington (AFP).

He added: "Making the primary objective the disarmament of the resistance as a prerequisite for any agreement means stripping Lebanon of its strength. It poses an existential threat aimed at eliminating its resisting people, amounts to a declaration of sabotage against Lebanon and its stability, creates discord among the Lebanese for Israel's benefit, and enables Israel to achieve through politics what it failed to achieve through war."

He asserted that "the declaration serves as a roadmap for annihilating part of the Lebanese people and enslaving the rest."

He continued: "Placing the security track under the banner of an imaginary ceasefire, interpreting it as Hezbollah ceasing fire and the resistance withdrawing from the southern arena while aggression continues under military pressure, amounts to surrender and defeat, fulfilling the enemy's objectives. It is like Satan's dream of entering heaven."

Qassem also stressed that "we have not committed to anyone that we would refrain from resisting aggression and responding to it. As long as the aggression continues, we will confront it with all the power we possess, striking wherever we decide and are able to reach. As long as our villages remain unsafe, subjected to bombing and destruction, and our people continue to be killed, the settlements will not be safe, and you will witness our strength and intensity."

He emphasized that "the primary goal should be Lebanon's sovereignty, which can only be achieved through stopping Israeli aggression against Lebanon in all its forms—by air, land, and sea—ensuring Israel's withdrawal from Lebanese territory so that the army can deploy south of the Litani River, securing the release of prisoners, enabling people to return to all their villages, and carrying out reconstruction."

Sheikh Naim Qassem further affirmed that "we reject any attempt to link the existence of the resistance to the cessation of aggression and Israeli withdrawal. No one has the right to interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs or in how the Lebanese organize their political, economic, and social lives, or in the decisions they agree upon regarding their country's sovereignty and protection within the framework of a national security strategy."

He added: "We are committed to national unity in confronting aggression, as it is a source of strength for us all."

Qassem also held "the authorities responsible for addressing the dysfunction caused by Lebanon's internal divisions, which stem from political choices that do not reflect the national consensus of the Lebanese components, the principles of the constitution, or the formula of coexistence."

He stressed that "the authorities are responsible for launching measures and dialogues that lead to unifying the Lebanese in confronting Israeli aggression against our country, as it is aggression against all of us."

He said: "The priority is for the people of the country to unite in confronting aggression first, and then address our internal issues afterward within the framework of the constitution, the Taif Accord, citizenship, and coexistence."

He called on officials to "put an end to this farce and insult called direct negotiations, so that you become stronger with all your people rallying around the option of a sovereign state under your leadership, which the enemies will inevitably be forced to accept."

In the same context, Qassem thanked Iran for "its support in helping us recover our land and our rights in confronting Israeli-American aggression, despite the major confrontations it faces itself."

He added that Iran "is working to consolidate the cessation of aggression and achieve a comprehensive ceasefire in Lebanon as part of the broader effort to stop aggression against Iran."