Hezbollah Rejects Negotiations With Israel Despite Lebanon's Ceasefire

Hezbollah Lebanon/DOK PHOTO Tasnim News Agency Via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - Lebanese Hezbollah said his group had the legitimate right to fight the occupation (Israel). Hezbollah emphasized that it would support the Lebanese army.

Although Lebanon is bound by a ceasefire, Hezbollah is not obliged to engage in political negotiations with Israel.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the militant group Hezbollah was trying to establish a reciprocal of its weapons force. Netanyahu stressed Israel's right to self-defense under last year's ceasefire agreement if Lebanon failed to bear off the group's weapons.

At a cabinet meeting, PM Netanyahu said Israel would "act as necessary" if Lebanon did not take steps to prevent its territory from becoming a new front.

Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, also said the Lebanese government must fulfill its commitment to strip Himbollah of weapons and expel the group from southern Lebanon.

He said maximum law enforcement efforts would continue and be intensified to protect Israelis in the north.

The United States became an intermediary for a ceasefire in November 2024 between Lebanon and Israel after more than a year of conflict sparked by the war in Gaza, but Israeli attacks on the border continued sporadically.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Lebanon agreed that only state security forces could carry weapons, meaning Hezbollah should be fully stripped.