Hezbollah chief says will work with Lebanon army to implement ceasefire

Hezbollah’s leader says he will work with the Lebanese army to enforce the ceasefire the group agreed with Israel, as the shaky truce largely held on its third day after more than a year of fighting.

In his first televised address since the truce went into effect, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said on Friday that he did not envision “problems or disagreement” with the army, which under the terms of the deal will deploy to southern Lebanon over 60 days as Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces withdraw.

“The coordination between the resistance and the Lebanese army will be at a high level to implement the commitments of the agreement,” Qassem said.

“We will work to … strengthen Lebanon’s defensive capacities,” he said.

“The resistance will be ready to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of Lebanon’s weakness along with our partners … first and foremost the army,” he added.

The Lebanese army has sent some troops to the south and is preparing a detailed deployment plan to share with Lebanon’s cabinet, the Reuters news agency reported, citing security sources and officials.

Under the terms of the US-brokered truce, Israeli forces have 60 days to complete their withdrawal, which could delay a larger deployment of Lebanese army forces.

The Israeli military has issued restrictions on people returning to villages along Lebanon’s border with Israel and has fired at people in those villages in recent days, calling those movements a violation of the truce.

Both the Lebanese army and Hezbollah have accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire in those instances, and by launching an air strike north of the Litani River on Thursday.

Israeli warplanes launched air strikes on southern Lebanon on Friday, claiming they were targeting Hezbollah weapons.

Israeli forces stationed in the town of Khiam – which include at least four tanks – on Friday opened fire at people as they tried to bury a body in the cemetery.

“There’s been gunshots towards civilians. There’s been artillery bombardment. There’s been Merkava tanks launching shells on several areas,” said Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tyre in Lebanon.

Qassem also declared a “divine victory” in the group’s war with Israel and claimed that the victory was even bigger than the one in 2006, when Hezbollah and Israel fought for 34 days.

He said Israeli forces killed and displaced thousands of people, including fighters, but also suffered heavy losses and failed to succeed in their goals. He said Hezbollah will continue to support Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel continues more than yearlong assault.

“To those that were betting that Hezbollah would be weakened, we are sorry, their bets have failed,” he said.

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American and French officials, as members of a committee set up to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire, were in Beirut on Friday and met Lebanese army officials.

The Israeli army continues to tell Lebanese to evacuate areas near the border and refrain from going back to their homes.

An analysis of geographic data by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad showed that the Israeli warnings have also extended to 20 villages that have not previously been invaded by Israeli forces or witnessed serious clashes.

In a summary of military operations against Hezbollah since the outbreak of the conflict in October 2023, the Israeli military on Friday claimed it has struck more than 12,500 Hezbollah targets, including 1,600 command centres and 1,000 weapons depots.

As part of its ground invasion of southern Lebanon which began in October, it said more than 100 special operations were carried out by 14 Israeli military brigade-level task forces.

It claimed to have killed at least 2,500 Hezbollah members and senior officials.

Lebanese health authorities say at least 3,961 people have been killed and 16,520 wounded in the fighting since October 2023.