The ceasefire is contingent on a “complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector,” according to a joint statement released by the trilateral participants.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Thursday appeared to reject the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, warning that the Iran-backed terrorist group would continue attacking as long as Israeli operations persist.
‘’The latest ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon offers a chance to prevent a return to full-scale hostilities,’’ said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas in a post on X after Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire during US-brokered talks in Washington.
This ceasefire is contingent on a “complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector,” according to a joint statement released by the trilateral participants.
Kallas said on X that the death of a UNIFIL peacekeeper and continued skirmishes ‘’underscore the tenuous nature of what was agreed.’’
She added: ‘’ The best way to reduce the threat posed by Hezbollah is to strengthen the Lebanese state, empower its institutions, and restore its monopoly on the use of force. To support this effort, the EU today agreed to provide an extra €100 million to Lebanon’s Armed Forces.’’
After a marathon negotiating session of over eight and a half hours at the U.S. State Department, Israel and Lebanon announced an agreement to “swiftly advance the creation” of so-called pilot zones to gradually drive out the Hezbollah terror organization from south of the strategic Litani River in southern Lebanon, and immediately replace control of those positions with Lebanese Armed Forces troops.
The agreement, brokered by the United States, came at the conclusion of the second day of the fourth round of the historic direct talks between Jerusalem and Beirut in Washington.
A ceasefire agreed to by the two sides is contingent on a “complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector,” according to a joint statement released by the trilateral participants.
The completed steps “will enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement,” the statement reads.
“I think we achieved something today which is relatively unprecedented,” Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, told the press. “We brought the people of Lebanon to the understanding that we’re not the enemy. Hezbollah is, and now we’re going to work together to rid the country of this Iranian proxy on Israel’s border, which deprives Israel of its security and the Lebanese people of their freedom.”
Leiter again led talks on behalf of Israel. Simon Karam, a former Lebanese ambassador to Washington and now a special presidential envoy, headed up the Lebanese side, with Dan Holler, State Department counselor, serving as lead mediator and facilitator.
Hezbollah rejects
However, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Thursday appeared to reject the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, warning that the Iran-backed terrorist group would continue attacking as long as Israeli operations persist.
“We have not given anyone a commitment not to resist aggression and respond to it,” Qassem said in remarks carried by Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar, adding that “as long as the aggression continues, we will confront it with all the strength we possess.”
Qassem said any ceasefire must include a full halt to Israeli military activity across Lebanon and a withdrawal of Israeli forces, alongside the return of displaced residents and reconstruction efforts. He described Lebanese sovereignty as the “primary objective,” calling for “halting Israeli aggression in all its forms—air, land and sea,” and deploying the Lebanese army south of the Litani River, according to Al Manar.
He also denounced U.S.-led diplomacy and any efforts to disarm Hezbollah, calling direct negotiations a “farce” and the so-called Washington Declaration “a roadmap for the extermination of a segment of the Lebanese people.”
Qassem warned that “as long as the occupation exists, the resistance will continue,” rejecting any arrangement that would limit Hezbollah’s terrorist activity while Israeli strikes continue.
JNS contributed to this report.