Iran-linked group reiterates defiance; Israeli defence minister threatens to ‘burn all of Lebanon’.

Israel has threatened to “burn” all of Lebanon after Hezbollah reiterated its defiance and rejection of peace talks as war across the border grinds on.

The Lebanon-based armed group on Monday condemned Beirut’s ongoing discussions with Israel and again refused to end its campaign of strikes across the border in the face of Israel’s persisting attacks on the south of the country. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz retorted that defiance would bring catastrophic consequences.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem asserted in a statement that while “sacrifices are great”, the Lebanese people have two options: “Liberation and pride or occupation and humiliation.”

The Iran-linked armed group has criticised the Lebanon government for entering talks with Israel to seek an end to the latest series of hostilities, which was sparked by the United States-Israeli war on Tehran.

“We are continuing our defensive resistance for Lebanon and its people,” Qassem said. “We will not return to the pre-March [status quo]; we will respond to the Israeli aggression and confront it. No matter what the enemy threatens, we will not retreat, we will not bow down, we will not be defeated.”

Hezbollah resumed attacks against Israel on March 2, in response to strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Lebanon has since outlawed Hezbollah’s military activities and held the first direct negotiations with Israel since 1983.

Qassem reiterated his rejection of those talks and outlined pre-conditions for Hezbollah to enter any such dialogue, including the end of  “the aggression on land, sea and air,” Israel’s withdrawal “from the occupied territories”, the release of prisoners, the return of all displaced people and “reconstruction”.

The Hezbollah leader also demanded that Lebanon end direct talks and reverse its decision that “criminalises the resistance”.

Israeli Minister Katz responded by saying Qassem was “playing with fire … [that] will burn Hezbollah and all of Lebanon”.

“If the Lebanese government continues to take cover under the wing of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, fire will break out and engulf the cedars of Lebanon,” he told United Nations envoy to Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, according to a statement issued by his office.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun also entered the rhetorical fray, saying that the direct talks with Israel were aimed at ending the conflict with Hezbollah while accusing those who drew Lebanon into war of “treason”, in an implicit rebuke of Hezbollah.

Katz, however, accused Aoun of “gambling with the future of Lebanon,” insisting that the Lebanese government must ensure that Hezbollah is disarmed.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said the Israeli military has been taken aback by Hezbollah’s ability to resist Israel’s occupation of Lebanon’s southern territories.

“Hezbollah in recent days has increased the tempo of operations,” Khodr noted, reporting that the group was “making it very difficult for [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu to claim that he has brought security to northern Israel by occupying territory in southern Lebanon.”

Despite the formal ceasefire, the Israeli army and Hezbollah have continued to trade fire. The Israeli military on Monday reported it had conducted strikes on what it called Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Bekaa Valley, in eastern Lebanon, as well as attacks targeting the towns of Tibnin, Yater and Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, claimed attacks on Israeli forces within southern Lebanon, while the Israeli army said sirens sounded in the town of Arab al-Aramshe after an aircraft was reported to have entered northern Israel.

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, Israeli attacks have killed 2,521 people since March 2, with a further 7,804 wounded.