Hezbollah has rejected a US-brokered ceasefire plan agreed by the Lebanese and Israeli governments, casting doubt on regional peace efforts. The group's leader, Naim Qassem, described the plan as a 'roadmap to annihilate part of the Lebanese people' in a statement on Thursday.
Qassem demanded a complete ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, warning that as long as Lebanese villages are bombed, northern Israel will not be safe. 'As long as the occupation exists, the resistance will continue,' he said, urging officials to end the 'farce' of direct negotiations.
The Israeli and Lebanese governments had agreed a ceasefire on Monday night, calling for a complete cessation of fire from Hezbollah and the evacuation of its fighters south of the Litani River. However, the Lebanese army is not a party to the conflict, and Hezbollah's rejection undermines the government's announcement that the truce would take effect within 24 hours.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned that those delaying or rejecting a ceasefire would bear responsibility for the consequences. 'The negotiation track we chose is the fastest and least costly road for Lebanon,' he said. Hezbollah's stance echoes demands from Tehran, with Iran's Quds Force chief Esmail Qaani stating that 'the minimum demand of the resistance is the withdrawal of the usurping regime to its prewar positions.'
Despite the ceasefire agreement, both Israel and Hezbollah continued fighting on Thursday. Israel carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon, killing four people, while Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli soldiers. Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz affirmed his country's 'freedom of action, backed by the United States, to strike Beirut in response to attacks.'
Israel controls over 600 square kilometres of territory in southern Lebanon and has destroyed dozens of border villages. Lebanon and Israel have agreed to create 'pilot zones' where the Lebanese armed forces would take exclusive control, but Hezbollah's rejection complicates this plan.
