Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said that only developments on the battlefield, not political moves, would bring an end to the hostilities between the Lebanese armed group and the Israeli military, Reuters reports.

“I will tell you very clearly, our conviction is that only one thing can stop this war of aggression, and that is the battlefield,” said Qassem, who was elected as Hezbollah’s secretary general following the killing of his predecessor Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli strikes in September.

He said that he did not believe that “political action” would bring about an end to the more than year-long conflict, playing out in parallel with Israel’s offensive in Gaza .

In a pre-recorded televised address, Qassem said there would be a road to indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state only if Israel decided to stop its attacks on Lebanon.

“When the enemy decides to stop the aggression, there is a path for negotiations that we have clearly defined — indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and Speaker (of parliament Nabih) Berri,” said Qassem.

He said those talks could only proceed if they guaranteed “the protection of Lebanese sovereignty in full, without anything missing,” but did not provide further details.