Prominent Hezbollah parliamentarian Ali Fayyad said the party “firmly rejects” the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, coinciding with the intensification of fighting in southern Lebanon.
In a statement to Lebanon’s state National News Agency, Fayyad dismissed the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, negotiated in Washington, D.C. by high-level delegations, as “meaningless.” The ceasefire was only negotiated between the governments of Israel and Lebanon, despite the latter not being a belligerent. Hezbollah did not take part in negotiations.
“A ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel’s continued escalation of hostile actions — assassinations, bombardment, and opening fire — as well as its ongoing destructive annihilation of Lebanese border villages and towns, and its insistence on freedom of movement under the pretext of potential threats,” Fayyad said.
The latter part of his statement refers to Israel’s occupation of much of southern Lebanon, with its goal being an occupied zone up to the Litani River.
“Any Israeli aggression against any Lebanese target, regardless of its nature, gives the resistance the right to respond appropriately,” Fayyad continued. “Likewise, any ceasefire that does not constitute a prelude linked to Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory affirms the Lebanese people’s firm and final right to resist the occupation and expel it from our land in order to restore full Lebanese sovereignty.”
His comments came just one day after President Donald Trump announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire. As part of the agreement, Trump said the United States was “going to work with Lebanon in order to help it protect itself from Hezbollah.”
The extended ceasefire was almost immediately broken, with the Israeli military and Hezbollah exchanging drone and rocket salvos in southern Lebanon.
In announcing its Friday strikes, the Israeli military said it would “continue to act decisively against threats directed at the Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, in accordance with directives from the political echelon.”
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Israel and Hezbollah have both significantly scaled back their attacks against each other after the ceasefire was first announced, signaling both were ostensibly abiding by it, though violations were widespread. Fayyad’s remarks could signal that Hezbollah may reject the ceasefire altogether, clearing the way for Israel to resume its aggressive assaults to seize more of southern Lebanon.
The ceasefire was negotiated under heavy U.S. pressure, after Tehran demanded that Lebanon be included under the wider ceasefire that froze the war with Iran. Many Israeli strategists have been keen on pursuing the war in Lebanon separately, viewing this as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to destroy the biggest thorn in its side for good.