BEIRUT, April 24 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Hezbollah said a U.S.-mediated ceasefire in the war with Israel was meaningless a day after it was extended for three weeks, pointing to continued Israeli attacks in south Lebanon and saying the group had the right to respond.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the three-week extension on Thursday after hosting Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors at the White House. The ceasefire agreement between the governments of Lebanon and Israel had been due to expire on Sunday.
In a statement responding to the extension, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said “it is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel’s insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling, and gunfire” and its demolition of villages and towns in the south.
Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the group opened fire in support of Iran in the regional war. The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in any broader truce.
The U.S.-mediated ceasefire, which took effect on April 16, has led to a significant reduction in hostilities, though Israel and Hezbollah have continued to trade blows in southern Lebanon, where Israel has kept soldiers in a self-declared “buffer zone”.
“Any Israeli aggression against any Lebanese target, regardless of its nature, gives the resistance the right to respond proportionately,” Fayyad said.
(Reporting by Laila Bassam; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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