BEIRUT, June 26 (UPI) — Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Friday that Israel must withdraw from Lebanon “humiliated” and without conditions, rejecting normalization or an end to the state of enmity with it, and describing Iran as the “path to salvation.”

Qassem was speaking in a televised speech marking Ashura, the culmination of a 10-day mourning period observed by Shiite Muslims to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE.

He said Israel has “no option” but to withdraw fully from every inch of Lebanon and that it must leave unconditionally, “humiliated and disgraced.”

Israel retaliated against Hezbollah after it opened a support front for Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, killing its top leadership, degrading its military infrastructure, and reoccupying parts of southern Lebanon.

The Israeli attacks significantly weakened the Iran-backed militant group but did not defeat it. After rebuilding its ranks, Hezbollah resumed fighting last March in support of Iran, battling advancing Israeli forces and inflicting casualties among their ranks.

Shiite communities in southern Lebanon have been among those most affected by Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah, through the displacement of some 1.2 million people and the widespread destruction of villages in the region.

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry’s latest casualty count released Friday, 4,230 people have been killed and 12,179 wounded since March 2.

Qassem said Israel seeks to “swallow up” and occupy Lebanon as part of its “Greater Israel” project, and that Hezbollah is resisting “Israeli-American aggression and occupation.”

He called on the Lebanese authorities, which engaged in direct negotiations with Israel to end the war despite Hezbollah’s objection, to stop implementing “the enemy’s dictates” and adopting decisions that “serve the interests” of the United States and Israel.

He said any settlement should preserve Lebanon’s full sovereignty and independence, adding that there will be “no normalization and no end to the state of enmity, no gains for Israel, and no partial presence on Lebanese territory.”

“Any commitment against Lebanon’s sovereignty will not be accepted, and no one has the right to sign or approve anything,” he added.

Hezbollah has been pushing to drop the Washington talks in favor of the U.S.-Iran negotiation track, arguing that Tehran insisted on Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire agreement with the U.S.

“It has been proven that Iran is the path to salvation,” Qassem said, emphasizing the need to benefit from “the path of understanding between Iran and the United States as a key support for Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

He rejected calls by some countries — in clear reference to Gulf states — to disarm his group in exchange for helping reconstruct the war-ravaged country.

Hezbollah’s full disarmament has been a recurring Israeli demand to secure its northern border and accept withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

Qassem insisted that his group would relinquish its weapons “exclusively” south of the Litani River to allow the deployment of the Lebanese army after the Israeli withdrawal, in line with the Nov. 27 ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States and France.

On Friday, Israeli forces continued their attacks and advances inside Lebanon, while Lebanese and Israeli negotiating teams resumed their U.S.-mediated talks in Washington — extended by an extra day — to resolve key disagreements and reach a joint “declaration of intent” or “a commitment of intent” aimed at ending the conflict, securing a complete Israeli pullout and achieving lasting peace.

The disagreements related to the establishment of proposed “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon and a formula under which Israel would begin its withdrawal and the Lebanese army would take over.