Hezbollah Rejects Ceasefire Deal, Demands Israeli Withdrawal

Hezbollah rejected the latest ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and the Lebanese government on Thursday and demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as continued fighting there hampers moves to end the Iran war.

In a written statement read out on TV, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem called the negotiations “absurd, humiliating, and insulting.”

He said the agreement’s demand that Hezbollah fighters leave southern Lebanon under fire would mean “surrender, defeat and achieving the enemy’s goals.”

“What we are concerned about is an end to the aggression, ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal,” he said, underscoring that Hezbollah had not made any commitment to stop fighting.

“So long as our villages are not safe and are being bombed and destroyed and our people are killed," he said, northern Israel “will not be safe.”

The fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swathes of the south, threatens ongoing efforts to end the Iran and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for oil and gas. Its closure has jolted the global economy.

Iran has demanded that any lasting truce be extended to include Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, wants to press ahead with Israel’s offensive until Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.

US President Donald Trump has sought to downplay the diplomatic deadlock and the failure of declared ceasefires to end the fighting.

He told reporters that in the Middle East, "a ceasefire is when you’re shooting in a more moderate manner.”

Fighting rages despite declared ceasefires

Hezbollah resumed rocket fire on Israel days after Israel and the United States launched their surprise 28 February attack on Iran, which saw Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed.

Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, acknowledged on Thursday that the ongoing war was straining northern Israeli towns living under the threat of Hezbollah fire.

He said Israel's operations in Iran and Lebanon had “created a new security reality,” by weaking Iran and Hezbollah “to an unprecedented degree.”

After Hezbollah's rocket and drone attacks resumed, Israeli troops seized around a fifth of Lebanon, pushing further into the country's south than at any time since the end of Israel’s 1982-2000 occupation.

In the southern city of Sidon, residents reacted to Wednesday's ceasefire announcement with scepticism, saying previous agreements had failed to stop the violence.

“Every few days a ceasefire is announced, but people keep getting killed,” said Mayada Hijazi.

“It’s all talk and no action,” said Salah Nassab. “We keep going back to our homes and then we get displaced again, back and forth. We’re very tired."

More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, and over 1.2 million have been displaced. The fighting has killed 27 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.

Iran demands durable Lebanon ceasefire

A top Iranian general reiterated Tehran's demand for a full ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday and called for Israel to pull troops back to where they were when the wider war began. At that time, Israel held five strategic points along the border.

“Supporting the resistance in Lebanon is the duty of all of us and eliminating Israel from the region is an achievable goal for Muslims,” Esmail Qaani, the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars and Tasnim news agencies.

As diplomatic efforts have repeatedly faltered, Iran and the US have traded fire in and around the Strait of Hormuz, which remains effectively closed.

The US has targeted what it says are Iranian threats to commercial shipping and its own forces, while Iran has launched missile and drone attacks on Gulf states hosting US troops.