Latest news with #USBrokeredCeasefire
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hezbollah threatens to resume firing at Israel if it intensifies Lebanon action
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah warned on Tuesday that if Israel intensifies its military operations against his group, the Iran-backed armed faction will resume firing missiles toward Israel. Naim Kassem's comments came as Lebanon's Cabinet was meeting to discuss Hezbollah's disarmament. Beirut is under US pressure to disarm the group that recently fought a 14-month war with Israel and was left gravely weakened, with many of its political and military leaders dead. Since the war ended in November with a US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah officials have said the group will not discuss its disarmament until Israel withdraws from five hills it controls inside Lebanon and stops almost daily airstrikes that have killed or wounded hundreds of people, most of them Hezbollah members. Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its military capabilities. Israel's military has said the five locations in Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel, where about 60,000 Israelis were displaced during the war. Since the ceasefire, Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for one attack on a disputed area along the border. In a televised speech on Tuesday, Kassem said Hezbollah rejects any timetable to hand over its weapons. 'Israel's interest is not to widen the aggression because if they expand, the resistance will defend, the army will defend and the people will defend,' he said. 'This defence will lead to the fall of missiles inside Israel.' Since the war ended, Hezbollah has withdrawn most of its fighters and weapons from the area along the border with Israel south of the Litani river. Last week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated calls for Hezbollah to give up its weapons, angering the group's leadership. The ceasefire agreement left vague how Hezbollah's weapons and military facilities north of the Litani river should be treated, saying Lebanese authorities should dismantle unauthorised facilities starting with the area south of the river. Hezbollah maintains the deal covers only the area south of the Litani, while Israel and the US say it mandates disarmament of the group throughout Lebanon. Kassem said Hezbollah rejects a government vote over its weapons, saying such a decision should be unanimously backed by all Lebanese. 'No one can deprive Lebanon of its force to protect its sovereignty,' Kassem said. Hezbollah's weapons are a divisive issue among Lebanese, with some groups calling for its disarmament. The Israel-Hezbollah war started a day after the October 7 2023 Hamas-led attack against Israel from Gaza. It left more than 4,000 people dead and caused 11 billion dollars (£8.3 billion) of damage.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Hezbollah chief says missiles will fall on Israel if it resumes war on Lebanon
BEIRUT, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem threatened Israel directly for the first time in months in a televised speech on Tuesday, saying missiles would fall on it if it resumed a broad war on Lebanon. His comments came as Lebanon's cabinet met to discuss the fate of Hezbollah's arsenal, after Washington pressured Lebanese officials to commit to disarming the Iran-backed group and amid fears that Israel could intensify strikes if they fail to do so. Qassem said that, should Israel engage in a "large-scale aggression" against Lebanon, Hezbollah, Lebanon's army and Lebanon's people would defend themselves. "This defence will lead to missiles falling inside the Israeli entity, and all the security they have built over eight months will collapse within an hour," he said. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November brought an end to months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel. The war killed much of Hezbollah's leadership - including Qassem's predecessor Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah - and destroyed much of its arsenal. Qassem said the war had killed 5,000 Hezbollah fighters and wounded 13,000, the first official toll the group has given. But he said the organisation remained in good order, with fighters ready to make "the harshest sacrifices" if needed. Minutes after he spoke, dozens of men on motorcycles carrying Hezbollah's yellow flags emerged from its strongholds in Beirut's southern suburbs for the second day in a row. Washington and Beirut have been in talks since June on a U.S. roadmap to fully disarm Hezbollah in exchange for a halt to Israeli strikes, the withdrawal of Israeli troops still occupying five points in south Lebanon and funds to rebuild areas destroyed by Israeli bombardment during the war. But with little progress on disarmament, Washington's patience began wearing thin and it pressured Lebanon's ministers to swiftly make a public pledge so that talks could continue. Qassem pushed back against the conditions, saying Israel must implement the ceasefire in full by halting its military activities in Lebanon before any other discussion. "Solve the problem of the (Israeli) aggression, and then we will discuss the issue of the weapons," he said. Addressing Lebanese officials, he said: "I hope you don't waste time on the storms stirred up by external dictates."
