Hezbollah chief vows resistance will respond to Israeli violations ‘as they occur’
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed by explosive devices in south Lebanon since the truce was announced
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned in a statement on 18 April that resistance fighters “will remain in the field” and respond to Israel’s ceasefire violations.
The fighters “will remain in the field with their hands on the trigger, and will respond to violations as they occur.”
Qassem blasted the ceasefire announcement published by the US State Department on 16 April, which stressed that Israel's right to ‘self-defense’ would not be impeded by the cessation of attacks, as an insult to Lebanon and its people.
The resistance leader also outlined five demands: a permanent halt to all Israeli attacks across Lebanon, full Israeli withdrawal to the borders, release of prisoners, return of displaced residents to their towns up to the border, and reconstruction backed by Arab and international support under the responsibility of the Lebanese state.
Otherwise, Hezbollah will not remain silent, Qassem added.
“There is no ceasefire by the resistance alone; it must be by both sides. We will not accept a repeat of the fifteen months of patience toward Israeli aggression while waiting for diplomacy that achieved nothing.”
Israel has resorted to the same tactics it used in the Gaza Strip. Army Radio revealed days ago that Tel Aviv has established a ‘Yellow Line’ ten kilometers from the border, where it is destroying civilian infrastructure through demolition operations.
"Over the past 24 hours, IDF forces operating south of the Yellow Line in southern Lebanon identified terrorists who violated the ceasefire understandings and approached the forces from north of the Yellow Line in a manner that posed an immediate threat,” the Israeli military said on Saturday. "Immediately after identification and in order to eliminate the threat ... forces attacked the terrorists in several areas in southern Lebanon."
Israel claims the terms of the truce with Lebanon include its freedom of action and the right to attack when it pleases. Hezbollah has repeatedly stressed it will not allow a return to the post-November 2024 situation, where it exercised patience with Israeli violations to give the government a chance to expel Israeli troops diplomatically.
“Our strategic patience has ended,” said top Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qamati over the weekend.
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in south Lebanon since the ceasefire was announced.
The Israeli army announced on Sunday the death of a reservist, Lidor Porat, who was killed in southern Lebanon on 18 April when an explosive device was triggered as Israeli occupation forces carried out detonation operations targeting residential Lebanese homes.
Nine others were reportedly wounded in the same incident, including one in serious condition.
The day before, one Israeli officer was killed, and five other troops were injured after an explosive device detonated in southern Lebanon.
Israeli violations have not stopped since the ceasefire. Over the weekend, two drone strikes killed and injured several people, while heavy artillery shelling hit Beit Lif, Qantara, Debbine, and Khiam.
At the start of the war and ground operation in Lebanon, Israeli officials vowed to “dismantle” Hezbollah and establish a “defensive buffer zone” from the Israeli border all the way to the Litani River.
Yet the resistance military’s capabilities were unaffected, and the Israeli army failed to take full control of Bint Jbeil, Khiam, and other southern towns.