Lebanon’s Hezbollah rules out negotiations during fighting with Israel

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement said on Tuesday there would be no negotiations while fighting continued with Israel and it claimed sole responsibility for a drone attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s holiday home.

The group “takes full and sole responsibility” for targeting Netanyahu’s house, Mohammad Afif, head of the Iranian-backed militant group’s media office, told a press conference in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

“If our hands didn’t reach you the previous time, then days, nights and the battlefield are still between us,” he said.

Israel said a drone was launched at Netanyahu’s holiday home on Saturday. Netanyahu was not there at the time, but he described it as an assassination attempt by “Iran’s proxy Hezbollah” and called it a “grave mistake”.

Hezbollah also for the first time acknowledged that Israel had captured some of its fighters since it launched a ground offensive in south Lebanon, and said that Israel was responsible for their wellbeing.

Hezbollah had not captured any Israeli soldiers but had come close, Afif said. “It won’t take long before we have captives from the enemy (Israel).”.

He also denied that the group’s Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association was involved in financing Hezbollah salaries or weapons and would fulfil its obligations to clients in full even after Israel targeted it with some 30 strikes on Sunday.

Israel and the U.S. say Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which has over 30 outlets across Lebanon, is used by Hezbollah for money laundering and terrorism financing, assertions the group denies.

(Reporting by Timour Azhari and Laila Bassam, Writing by Nayera Abdallah; editing by Andrew Heavens and Mark Heinrich)