Lebanon | Hezbollah leader to cooperate with army to respect ceasefire

(Beirut) The leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, Naïm Qassem, pledged Friday to cooperate with the Lebanese army, responsible for ensuring respect for the ceasefire with Israel, in his first intervention since its entry into force Wednesday in Lebanon.

The truce, which ended more than a year of cross-border hostilities and two months of open war between the two belligerents, is already being tested: the Israeli army announced on Friday that it had carried out an air strike against Hezbollah pro-Iranian in southern Lebanon.

“The coordination between the resistance and the Lebanese army will be at a high level to apply the terms of the agreement” of the ceasefire, sponsored by Washington and Paris, assured Naïm Qassem in a pre-recorded speech.

The plan calls for the withdrawal within 60 days of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon, where it entered on September 30, a week after launching a massive bombing campaign against Hezbollah.

Hezbollah must retreat to the north of the Litani River, around 30 km from the border, and dismantle its military infrastructure in the south, where only the Lebanese army and the Blue Helmets will be deployed.

“Let no one bet on problems or conflict” with the army, added the leader of Hezbollah who recently succeeded Hassan Nasrallah, killed by an Israeli strike at the end of September in his stronghold in southern Beirut.

“The resistance will be ready to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of Lebanon’s weakness with our partners […] and first of all the army,” he continued, pledging to contribute to “strengthening Lebanon’s defensive capabilities.”

Naïm Qassem also claimed a “great victory” over Israel, prevented “from destroying Hezbollah, and from annihilating the Resistance or weakening it”. Weakened by the Israeli operation, which notably decimated its leadership, the movement armed and supported by Iran nevertheless remains a key player on the Lebanese political scene.

« Guerre intensive »

“Recently, terrorist activities and the movement of a mobile rocket launcher were detected in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli army indicated earlier, publishing on X a video showing a strike on a truck rolling slowly.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Thursday with an “intensive war” in the event of a violation of the truce, after a first strike by the army on a facility used, according to him, by Hezbollah to store rockets from medium range.

The Lebanese army, which began deploying troops and armor in the south of the country, accused Israel on Thursday of having violated the agreement “on several occasions”.

Israeli soldiers also opened fire Friday on residents of southern Lebanon during a funeral in a border village, according to the Lebanese news agency Ani.

The Israeli army on Wednesday warned residents of Lebanon — 900,000 of whom have been displaced in 13 months of hostilities — returning to their homes in the south to stay away from its positions. It imposed a nighttime curfew on Thursday throughout the sector south of Litani, extended until Saturday morning.

“Support for Palestine”

“Our support for Palestine will not stop and will continue through different means,” the leader of Hezbollah also assured, without further details.

Hezbollah opened a “support” front for Hamas against Israel at the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered on October 7, 2023 by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement.

The group previously claimed that it would only stop its attacks against Israel – which have displaced 60,000 residents in the north of the country – with the end of the war in Gaza.

According to Lebanese authorities, at least 3,961 people have been killed since October 2023, most since the end of September. On the Israeli side, 82 soldiers and 47 civilians died in 13 months, according to the authorities.