Hezbollah rejects U.S.-backed Israel-Lebanon ceasefire

Hezbollah has rejected a U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, sharply limiting hopes that the fragile proposal could halt fighting that has killed thousands and displaced more than one million people in Lebanon.

The agreement, announced Wednesday after a fourth round of U.S.-mediated talks in Washington, would renew a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and establish “pilot” security zones inside Lebanon where Hezbollah operatives would be barred. In a joint statement released by the U.S. State Department, the United States, Israel and Lebanon said the deal was “contingent on a complete cessation” of fire by Hezbollah.

But Hezbollah was not part of the talks, and its leader, Naim Qassem, denounced the negotiations as “futile” and “humiliating” for Lebanon. He said the terms were rejected by “broad segments of the Lebanese people” and argued that the “supposed ceasefire,” understood as Hezbollah halting fire and withdrawing fighters from the southern front with Israel, amounted to surrender and would achieve Israel’s objectives.

A Hezbollah official also told NPR that the group had officially informed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun it would not accept any ceasefire that did not begin with the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The proposed arrangement calls for the “evacuation of all [Hezbollah] operatives” from the area between the Israeli border and the Litani River, about 30 kilometers, or 19 miles, to the north. That area is currently occupied by Israeli ground forces. Under the deal, the United States would help guide the creation of “pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors.” The agreement did not include maps showing where the zones would be located or explain how they would operate.

Aoun said the ceasefire “could be implemented within 24 hours of its final approval” by all concerned parties. The countries’ representatives are due to meet again on June 22 to pursue what the statement called a comprehensive agreement.

Israel signaled it would keep fighting for now. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military would “for the time being, continue its fire and operations on the ground” to “dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area.” NPR reported that Katz said Israel was demanding a demilitarized zone inside Lebanon while retaining the ability to continue attacks against Hezbollah, and that Israel would not withdraw from the south.

Lebanese media reported multiple Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon on Thursday. The state-run National News Agency said five people were killed in airstrikes on the Bekaa Valley town of Sohmor, and another person was killed when an Israeli aircraft targeted a motorcycle in Maaroub, near Tyre.

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said one peacekeeper died from wounds after mortar shells struck his position near Marjayoun late Wednesday. Serbia’s defense ministry identified him as Senior Sergeant Milovan Jovanovic, one of about 170 Serbian peacekeepers serving in the 7,500-strong force. Israel’s military accused Hezbollah of firing mortars that landed inside the U.N. position. Hezbollah has not commented. NPR reported that a U.N. source also said the mortars appeared to have come from Hezbollah.

The agreement followed a partial ceasefire announced Monday, under which Lebanon said Israel would refrain from bombing Beirut in exchange for Hezbollah not attacking Israel. On the streets of Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, some residents voiced skepticism. “You cannot have a ceasefire from one side, it’s going to be an all side or no ceasefire,” said Sami, a storekeeper who has run his business there for 25 years. “This is surrender. This is not a peace agreement. This is a surrender agreement.”

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia Muslim militia, political party and social movement, is Lebanon’s most powerful group and has an armed force more formidable than the Lebanese army. It is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom and many other countries.

Lebanon was drawn into the war between the United States, Israel and Iran on March 2, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader. Israel responded with an air campaign across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south. At least 3,526 people have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the war, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, whose figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The United Nations says more than one million people have registered as displaced in Lebanon, while Israel says 26 soldiers and four civilians have been killed on both sides of the border during the war.