Hezbollah chief: Israel will 'pay the price' for Beirut attacks with strike on Tel Aviv

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has pledged to respond to Israeli strikes on Beirut with an attack targeting "central Tel Aviv".

In a speech on Wednesday, Qassem acknowledged that the damage inflicted by Israeli attacks on Lebanon has been "painful and hurtful," but added that "we have many cadres who are very brave" and who "can continue at this pace for a long time".

On the state of the ceasefire negotiations, Qassem said that the group had passed on their comments to US envoy Amos Hochstein via the speaker of Lebanon's parliament Nabih Berri, adding that "we are willing to follow this path of indirect negotiations".

He said that it was currently unclear whether the talks would see an end to Israel's hostilites in Lebanon, as the decision is now in Israel's hands. 

Qassem pledged that Hezbollah would continue fighting, adding that should the negotiations succeed, they would view that success as a result of their fighting on the battlefield.

“Today, we are resisting in Lebanon to defend Lebanon and the people of Lebanon," he said. “During the battle, we think of the future of our country...we believe in the solidarity between the army, the people and the resistance.”