BEIRUT
\nDespite a US-mediated ceasefire agreement announced by Israel and Lebanon, hostilities raged on Thursday as Hezbollah rejected the deal and Israel vowed to maintain its military presence in southern Lebanon, undermining US President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to halt fighting on two fronts.
\nThe ceasefire, announced on Wednesday following negotiations in Washington, is contingent on Hezbollah ceasing fire and evacuating its fighters from southern Lebanon. However, Hezbollah is not a party to the talks and swiftly denounced the framework.
\nLebanese President Joseph Aoun called the Washington framework a \u201cfinal opportunity to secure a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire\u201d. Aoun said the truce could come into force within a day if all parties approved.
\nThe joint statement released with the US said Lebanon and Israel agreed to \u201cswiftly advance the creation of pilot zo\u00ad\u00adnes in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors\u201d.
\nBut Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the conditional truce, calling the direct talks a \u201cfarce and humiliation\u201d. He demanded a comprehensive ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal, threatening northern Israel with new attacks.
\n\u201cThe ceasefire must be comprehensive … without the Israeli enemy having the freedom to kill,\u201d Qassem said on Thursday. He described the Washington declaration as \u201ca roadmap for the annihilation of a section of the Lebanese people and the enslavement of the rest\u201d.
\n\u201cAs long as the occupation exists, the resistance will continue,\u201d Qassem added. \u201cAs long as our villages are unsafe \u2014 being bombed, destroyed, and our people killed \u2014 the settlements are unsafe.\u201d
\nThe war, which reignited on March 2 when Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran amid US-Israeli attacks on Iran, has become a sticking point in resolving the broader conflict.
\nTehran has demanded an end to Israeli attacks in Lebanon as a condition for any peace deal with Washington.
\nEsmail Qaani, commander of Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force, insisted on Thursday that Israel must retreat behind international borders.
\n\u201cSupporting the resistance in Lebanon is the duty of all of us,\u201d Qaani posted on social media. \u201cThe minimum demand of the resistance is the withdrawal of the usurping regime to the position it held before the start of the 40-day war.\u201d
\nIsrael, which invaded southern Lebanon in March, showed no intention of pulling back. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz affirmed on Thursday that forces would not withdraw from the area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIRUT Despite a US-mediated ceasefire agreement announced by Israel and Lebanon, hostilities raged on Thursday as Hezbollah rejected the deal and Israel vowed to maintain its military presence in southern Lebanon, undermining US President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to halt fighting on two fronts. The ceasefire, announced on Wednesday following negotiations in Washington, is contingent on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549861,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-549847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n