Hezbollah chief speaks of ‘high coordination’ with Lebanese army in applying ceasefire

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 29 (UPI) — Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Friday his Iran-backed militant group will coordinate with the Lebanese army to implement a US-led ceasefire that ended nearly 14 months of devastating conflict with Israel.

Qassem said in a speech broadcast by Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV that Hezbollah faced “unprecedented aggression” when Israel launched a large-scale attack on Lebanon, starting with high-tech pager bombings on September 17 against Hezbollah members ” and the assassination of its longtime leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

He praised the “historic resilience” of Hezbollah fighters who fought Israeli forces advancing in southern Lebanon and fired rockets at Israel, including Tel Aviv, saying they had won a “great victory.”

“We won because we did not allow the enemy to destroy Hezbollah and the resistance,” Qassem said, adding that Israel “suffered very heavy losses” as more Israelis were displaced and soldiers killed or wounded.

This, he said, led Israel to a “dead end,” pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to justify agreeing to a ceasefire and stopping the war without achieving its goals “because he wanted to rebuild and rearm his army.”

The ceasefire agreement, which took effect at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday, hours after it was announced by US President Joe Biden, is the result of months of complex negotiations to arrive at a formula that will allow for strict implementation of Council Resolution 1701 UN Security. with the support of US guarantees and an enforcement monitoring committee to combat violations.

Both Israel and Hezbollah accepted this.

The truce still holds despite several violations by Israeli forces, who opened fire on Lebanese returning to their villages in southern Lebanon, wounding at least two of them and carrying out two airstrikes on Hezbollah targets.

Qassem ignored Israeli violations during his speech.

However, he stressed that to implement the ceasefire agreement, there will be “high coordination” with the Lebanese army, which will “deploy… and carry out the mission of maintaining security in Lebanon and the border” with Israel.

Qasem explained that the agreement concerns “executive procedures” to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which was passed in 2006 to end the war between Hezbollah and Israel but was never respected by either side.

According to the agreement, the Lebanese army and security forces will be deployed to take control of the border area within 60 days. Hezbollah will not be allowed to rebuild its infrastructure.

During this period, Israel will gradually withdraw its remaining forces and civilians on both sides of the border will return to their homes and businesses.

Qassem stressed that the agreement focused on the southern part of the Litani River, saying that “the resistance has the right to defend” Lebanon and will continue to support the Palestinians “in many ways.”

The new conflict began when Hezbollah opened a Gaza “support front” in October 2023, engaging in cross-border firefights with Israel that escalated into a full-scale war last September.

For 64 days, Israel carried out intense air strikes, killing dozens of senior Hezbollah officials and military commanders and destroying its headquarters, rocket launchers and bases.

Relentless Israeli air and ground bombing has caused widespread destruction of villages, properties, hospitals and schools in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in southern and eastern Lebanon.

Almost 1.2 million people have been displaced since October 2023, with an estimated 3,961 people killed and 16,520 injured since October 2023.