Full story
Hezbollah rejects truce terms
Hezbollah rejected a renewed Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement on Thursday, demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as Israeli strikes killed at least four people and a U.N. peacekeeper died in the crossfire.
In a written statement read on TV, Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem called the negotiations “absurd, humiliating and insulting,” and said the agreement’s demand that Hezbollah fighters leave southern Lebanon under fire would mean “surrender, defeat and achieving the enemy’s goals.”
The BBC reported that the Iran-backed group’s leader Naim Qassem said negotiations had been “futile” and “humiliating” for Lebanon, rejecting the deal categorically.
The ceasefire plan described by multiple outlets included “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon where Hezbollah operatives would be banned, and it was framed as contingent on Hezbollah ceasing fire and leaving part of southern Lebanon.
The rejection came as Lebanese media reported Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon, including an account that a drone strike killed a motorcyclist and wounded four people in Maaroub, near Tyre.
Voices, sirens, and blame
After Kassem’s statement, drone alert sirens sounded in several border communities in northern Israel, including Shlomi, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ministers had been meeting with local officials.
The AP reported that the Israeli military said the sirens were triggered by attempts to intercept several drones that hit near soldiers in southern Lebanon, and it said no injuries were reported.
The BBC described skepticism in Beirut’s southern suburbs, with storekeeper Sami saying, “You cannot have a ceasefire from one side, it's going to be an all side or no ceasefire.”
In the same BBC report, Hadi said, “This is surrender. This is not a peace agreement. This is a surrender agreement,” as he described a lack of hope across generations.
The AP also said a Serbian peacekeeper was killed when a mortar struck near Marjayoun, and it noted that Israel blamed Hezbollah for the firing that killed the U.N. peacekeeper without offering evidence.
What’s at stake next
The dispute over Lebanon’s ceasefire threatens broader efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which the AP said is a key transit point for oil and gas whose closure has jolted the world economy.
“Israel and the Lebanese government have agreed to implement a new US-mediated ceasefire, the Trump administration has said, despite Israel’s defence minister insisting the military will continue operations in Lebanon”
The AP reported that Iran has demanded that any lasting truce extend to Lebanon, while U.S. President Donald Trump sought to downplay the diplomatic deadlock and the failure of declared ceasefires to end the fighting.
The BBC said the agreement between Israel and Lebanon would be contingent on the “evacuation of all [Hezbollah] operatives” from an area between the Israeli border and the Litani river, about 30km (19 miles) to the north, currently occupied by Israeli ground forces.
The Guardian reported that Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem called the plan a “roadmap to annihilate part of the Lebanese people,” and demanded a complete ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon.
In the BBC’s account of the political timeline, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the ceasefire “could be implemented within 24 hours of its final approval” by all concerned parties, while Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israel would “for the time being, continue its fire and operations on the ground” to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area.
