ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Wednesday said that engaging in talks with Israel while under military pressure would amount to Lebanon’s capitulation, calling on the Beirut government to lift current restrictions on the group’s military operations.

“When negotiations with the Israeli enemy are proposed under fire, this is an imposition of surrender,” he said, rejecting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s initiative to begin direct talks “with an enemy that occupies our land and carries out daily attacks.”

Aoun, whose government has strongly pushed for the disarmament of the Shiite militia group and urged it, to no avail, to avoid entering the current regional war, previously called for discussions with Israel relating to  "permanent arrangements for security and stability on our borders"

Qassem urged the Lebanese people to prioritize “national unity,” suggesting the government could bolster such cohesion by overturning its early March decree banning Hezbollah’s armed operations.

Israel has launched extensive military operations into Lebanon in recent weeks, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Wednesday they have "created a genuine security zone preventing any infiltration toward the Galilee and the northern border."

"We are expanding this zone to push the threat from anti-tank missiles further away and to establish a broader buffer zone," he added in a video address, raising fears of another extended period of Israeli occupation in its northern neighbor.

Also on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron affirmed France’s “total support” during what he described as a “decisive moment for the country’s future” in a post on X following his meeting with Aoun a day earlier.

Macron praised the Lebanese executive for taking “strong and courageous measures to implement its sovereignty agenda” following the military escalation by Hezbollah. He pledged continued humanitarian aid and the delivery of “armored transport vehicles” to the Lebanese military, while emphasizing that “Lebanon’s territorial integrity” and the “preservation of the state’s institutions” remain “essential” priorities.

On Tuesday, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji said in a statement that he had summoned Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Lebanon and informed him of “the Lebanese state’s decision to withdraw approval of the accreditation of the appointed Iranian ambassador, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, and declare him persona non grata, demanding that he leave Lebanese territory no later than next Sunday.”

He also said he had called in Lebanon’s ambassador to Iran over what the Lebanese state described as a breach of “diplomatic norms and established practices between the two countries.” The move came after Beirut accused Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps of “commanding Hezbollah’s operations” in the conflict with Israel.