Hezbollah on Thursday rejected a ceasefire plan agreed by the Lebanese and Israeli governments in US-mediated talks, as the terror group kept up rocket and drone attacks targeting troops and northern Israel, and the IDF continued to strike in southern Lebanon.

The night before, Jerusalem and Beirut agreed on a ceasefire contingent on Hezbollah halting attacks, and planned for the Lebanese army to deploy to “pilot” zones in southern Lebanon free from both Hezbollah operatives and IDF troops.

But the terror group’s chief, Naim Qassem, rejected the deal as “surrender.” Qassem said that his group would keep bombarding northern Israel as long as strikes continue in Lebanon. Qassem also urged the Lebanese government to quit the “farce” of direct talks with Israel.

In a written statement read on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV on Thursday, Qassem said the agreement’s demand that Hezbollah fighters leave southern Lebanon under fire would mean “surrender, defeat and achieving the enemy’s goals.”

As long as Lebanese villages are being bombed and people are being killed, northern Israel will not be safe, he said. Israel says it is striking terror operatives plotting attacks against troops and Israeli communities.

“What we are concerned about is an end to the aggression, ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal,” Qassem said. “We did not make any commitment to any party to stop resisting as long as there is occupation.”

The fighting did continue on Thursday, as sirens sounded across northern Israel. Hezbollah launched two rockets at IDF troops in Lebanon, causing no injuries.

In the afternoon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting the northern town of Shlomi some 30 minutes before drone warning sirens sounded in the community, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to The Times of Israel. The premier was unharmed and later left the area.

In a meeting with northern leaders in Shlomi, Netanyahu said Israel was “committed to northerners’ security,” promising to invest in their recovery, “just as we did in the south,” according to the Ynet news site.

“We will continue to act decisively against all threats,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said Israel “will, for the time being, continue its fire and operations on the ground.” Lebanese state media reported more than a dozen Israeli strikes on Thursday, and said five people were killed. The IDF did not immediately comment.

Aoun speaks of ‘last chance’ for truce

Israel and Lebanon have formally been at war since the Jewish state’s establishment in 1948.

On Wednesday, Israeli and Lebanese envoys held a fourth round of talks in Washington, agreeing to create a number of “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon from which Hezbollah terrorists would be banned. It was not immediately clear how the security zones would be established, but the agreement calls for the Lebanese army to take full control of those areas.

Before that statement was issued, Iran said Thursday that Hezbollah’s baseline demand is for Israel to withdraw to positions it held prior to the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to comments attributed to Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force Commander Esmail Qaani and published in state media.

For its part, Beirut hailed the deal, with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun saying........

© The Times of Israel