Qmati says Hezbollah won't accept 'partial ceasefire' with Israel

Hezbollah will not accept a "partial ceasefire" with Israel, a senior official from the Iran-backed group said Tuesday, refusing to halt attacks against northern Israel in exchange for Israel sparing Beirut's southern suburbs, although they appeared to have stopped on Tuesday.

"We will not accept a partial ceasefire," Mahmoud Qmati told AFP in a written statement, adding that "the Zionist enemy should know that any aggression against the suburbs could lead to a deeper and stronger response" from the group.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal which Lebanese officials later said involved Israel refraining from attacking Beirut's southern suburbs in return for Hezbollah not attacking Israeli territory.

The Lebanese embassy in Washington said in a statement overnight that Hezbollah had accepted Trump's equation.

"The Lebanese authorities received confirmation of Hezbollah's acceptance of the U.S. proposal providing for a mutual cessation of attacks," said an embassy statement published by President Joseph Aoun's office.

It said the confirmation came after a telephone call between Aoun and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.