The leader of the Lebanese militant Islamist movement Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, has said his group plans “high-level coordination” with the Lebanese army to implement a ceasefire deal with Israel that began on Wednesday.
“Coordination between the resistance and the Lebanese army will be of a high level to implement obligations of the agreement,” Qassem said in a televised statement on Friday.
“The agreement was concluded with full respect for Lebanese sovereignty. We agreed to it with our heads held high in our right to self-defence.”
Qassem said that Hezbollah, a powerful force in Lebanon that is both a political party and potent military force, has achieved a “big victory” in its latest war with Israel.
“We are in front of a big victory that transcends the victory of the July 2006, given the length of the duration, the ferocity of the battle and enormity of sacrifices,” he said, referring to a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The ongoing ceasefire is designed to put an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that began more than one year ago.
Israel strikes Hezbollah
The Israeli military said on Friday it had attacked a mobile rocket launcher belonging to the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon, two days after the ceasefire came into force.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a video showing an exploding truck.
“Terrorist activity” had taken place there, the IDF said, in justification of the air strike. The military did not say where exactly the attack took place.
It was the third known attack by the Israeli Air Force since the beginning of the ceasefire, initially set for 60 days, on Wednesday morning.
The agreement, which was painstakingly negotiated after more than a year of war, stipulates, among other things, that the pro-Iranian Hezbollah withdraw behind the Litani River, about 30 kilometres north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, in accordance with a UN resolution.
Since the beginning of the ceasefire, the intense mutual attacks between Hezbollah and Israel have indeed ceased. However, both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the agreements.
Villagers banned from returning
Israeli troops also banned residents of dozens of villages in southern Lebanon from returning home until further notice.
An Israeli military spokesman announced on X in Arabic that the military didn’t want the villagers to be put in danger of being targetted.
He listed more than 60 villages near the Israeli border that are part of a restricted area which Lebanese people are currently not allowed to enter.
The locations in the restricted zone are all on or south of the Litani River. Until Friday morning, access to the entire area south of the river had been prohibited for 14 hours. Now, access is no longer prohibited to all places there.
Israel’s ground troops are to withdraw from Lebanon step by step within 60 days. However, the IDF said it is currently still operating in the south of the neighbouring country to take action against violations of the ceasefire agreement.
The intense reciprocal attacks between Hezbollah and Israel ended at the beginning of the ceasefire on Wednesday morning. However, there are still isolated incidents.
Thousands of displaced Lebanese had set out for their home towns in the south after the beginning of the ceasefire.
