UNS Report
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM — Hezbollah has rejected a ceasefire framework agreed upon by the Lebanese and Israeli governments through U.S.-mediated negotiations, while Israel continued military operations in southern Lebanon and signaled it would not withdraw from the area.
The United States announced that Lebanon and Israel had accepted a ceasefire plan requiring the Iran-backed group Hezbollah to halt attacks and remove its fighters from southern border regions. However,
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem dismissed the proposal, calling the negotiations “shameless” and describing the U.S. declaration as “a roadmap for the annihilation of a section of the Lebanese people and the enslavement of the rest.”
“As long as the occupation exists, the resistance will continue,” Qassem said in a statement.
The conflict resumed on March 2 after Hezbollah launched attacks in support of Iran during escalating U.S.-Israeli military actions against Tehran. Despite several ceasefire announcements from Washington since April, hostilities have persisted.
Qassem insisted that any ceasefire agreement must address southern Lebanon, where Israel has established what it calls a security zone aimed at protecting northern Israeli communities from Hezbollah attacks. He warned that northern Israel would remain insecure as long as Lebanese villages faced bombardment and destruction.
Echoing Hezbollah’s position, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force stated that the minimum requirement for any settlement is Israel’s withdrawal to positions held before the war and its subsequent ground offensive in southern Lebanon.
Israel Continues Military Operations
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would continue military operations and strikes “for the time being,” stressing that the country would keep dismantling what it described as terrorist infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
Katz also stated that Israel retained the freedom, with U.S. backing, to conduct strikes in Beirut in response to attacks on Israeli territory and communities.
Israeli forces carried out multiple airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Thursday, according to security sources. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that five people were killed in strikes on the town of Sohmor, while drones were observed over Beirut.
Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun described the U.S.-proposed ceasefire framework as a final opportunity to secure a comprehensive and lasting end to the conflict. Before Hezbollah’s rejection, Aoun had expressed hope that the ceasefire could take effect within 24 hours if all parties approved it.
According to the U.S. State Department, the proposed agreement requires Hezbollah to completely stop firing on Israel and withdraw all operatives from the area between the Israeli border and Lebanon’s Litani River.
