Naim Qassem, the most senior Hezbollah leader left after the assassinations of Nasrallah and Safieddine, is reported to have called for an “unconditional ceasefire” between Israel and Lebanon. This is apparently not contingent on a cessation of fighting in Gaza.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Hezbollah supported efforts to secure a ceasefire with Israel as the IDF continued to target its top leadership and the two armies sharply increased their bombardments.

“After the issue of a ceasefire takes shape, and once diplomacy can achieve it, all of the other details can be discussed and decisions can be taken,” Qassem said on Tuesday. “If the enemy [Israel] continues its war, then the battlefield will decide.”

According to multiple Israeli news outlets, Qassem is calling on Israel to “agree to a ceasefire without preconditions. First, a ceasefire achieved through diplomatic means, and then we will discuss all the details.”

The request would entail both sides stopping the fighting before an agreement is mediated, most likely through the United Nations.

Netanyahu stated: “We killed thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself, the successor of Nasrallah, and the successor to the successor of Nasrallah,” Netanyahu said in a video statement addressed to Lebanese civilians. “You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will bring destruction and suffering similar to what we see in Gaza.”

“I say to you, the people of Lebanon: Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end; free your country from Hezbollah so that your country can prosper again so that future generations of Lebanese and Israeli children will know neither war nor bloodshed, but will finally live together in peace.”