Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers a speech from an unknown location, Nov. 20, 2024, in this still image from video. Photo: REUTERS TV/Al Manar TV via REUTERS.

Hezbollah has vowed to keep its weapons, rejecting a US-backed disarmament proposal amid increasing pressure from the Lebanese government and Israeli threats following new airstrikes and a cross-border incursion.

“This threat will not make us accept surrender,” Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a televised speech on Sunday, warning they will not abandon their weapons and insisting that Israel’s “aggression” must first stop.

“How can you expect us not to stand firm while the Israeli enemy continues its aggression, continues to occupy the five points, and continues to enter our territories and kill?” said Qassem, who succeeded longtime terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah after Israel killed him last year.

Hezbollah’s response came as the Lebanese government involved the Iran-backed terror group while crafting a reply to US envoy Tom Barrack’s proposal, which called for Israel to halt attacks on Lebanese soil in exchange for the group’s disarmament.

“We will not be part of legitimizing the occupation in Lebanon and the region. We will not accept normalization [with Israel],” Qassem said in his speech.

“America’s equation asking us to choose between being killed or surrender does not concern us and we will cling to our rights,” the terrorist leader continued.

On Monday, Barrack said he was “unbelievably satisfied” with Lebanon’s response to Washington’s recent proposal on disarming Hezbollah, following meetings between American and Lebanese leaders in Beirut.

This latest proposal, presented to Lebanese officials during Barrack’s visit on June 19, calls for Hezbollah to be fully disarmed within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from the five occupied posts in southern Lebanon.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday, Barrack said he had received the official response but did not disclose any details about its contents.

“What the government gave us was something spectacular in a very short period of time,” Barrack said. “I’m unbelievably satisfied with the response.”

The US envoy said he believed “the Israelis do not want war with Lebanon.”

“Both countries are trying to give the same thing — the notion of a stand-down agreement, of the cessation of hostilities, and a road to peace,” Barrack continued.

Last fall, Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive, following the group’s attacks on Jerusalem — which they claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.

In November, Lebanon and Israel reached a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah.

Under the agreement, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army and UN forces to take over security as Hezbollah disarms and moves away from Israel’s northern border.

However, Israel maintained troops at several posts in southern Lebanon beyond the ceasefire deadline, as its leaders aimed to reassure northern residents that it was safe to return home.

Jerusalem has continued carrying out strikes targeting remaining Hezbollah activity, with Israeli leaders accusing the group of maintaining combat infrastructure, including rocket launchers — calling this “blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”