Qassem says mediators should try to stop 'assault' on Gaza not 'support' for Gaza

Hezbollah's deputy chief Naim Qassem reiterated Monday that the group, which says it is acting support of Gazans and Hamas, would stop its attacks on Israel once the Gaza offensive ends.

Violence on the Israel-Lebanon border began a day after Hamas's October 7 attack that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

"Stop the assault on Gaza and war will end in the region," Qassem said of Israel's military campaign against Hamas.

International mediators should seek to "stop the assault" on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip rather than attempting "to prevent support" for Palestinian militants from Hezbollah, he added.

In recent months, Western envoys including top diplomats from France, Britain and Germany have converged on Beirut to urge restraint and discuss potential solutions.

As Washington's envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut Monday in a push to halt violence along the border with Israel, Israeli medics said a missile from Lebanon killed a foreign worker near the border and wounded at least seven others, the latest casualties in months of escalating clashes.

Hochstein's visit coincides with mediation efforts in Cairo towards a truce between Israel and Hamas, after the United States stepped up pressure for a halt in fighting and more aid to enter the besieged Palestinian territory.

During a January visit, Hochstein had said both Lebanon and Israel "prefer" a diplomatic path to end hostilities but Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said there will be no let-up in Israeli action against Hezbollah even if a Gaza ceasefire is secured.

The cross-border fighting has displaced tens of thousands on both sides and has killed at least 296 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including 46 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

In Israel, at least 10 soldiers and seven civilians have been killed.