Hezbollah allowing opportunity for cease-fire success despite Israeli violations: Secretary-General Naim Qassem

​​​​​​​By Stephanie Rady

BEIRUT (AA) – The head of Hezbollah announced Thursday that the group is "allowing an opportunity" for the success of a cease-fire agreement with Israel, despite Tel Aviv violating the terms dozens of times.

Naim Qassem said in a televised speech that the Lebanese government is "responsible" for addressing the breaches through the mechanism tasked with monitoring the agreement's implementation.

Israel “has committed more than 60 violations of the cease-fire agreement. The Lebanese government is responsible for following up on this, and the resistance is giving an opportunity for the success of the agreement,” said Qassem.

He added that the group had "approved" the "implementation mechanism" agreement for UN Security Council Resolution 1701, rather than a standalone new agreement. The resolution that was adopted Aug. 11, 2006, calls for a complete halt to hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel and the establishment of a weapons-free zone between the Blue Line -- the de facto border between Lebanon and Israel -- and the Litani River in southern Lebanon, with exceptions for the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL).

The Israeli army committed seven violations of the cease-fire deal Thursday, bringing the number of breaches since the agreement took effect eight days ago to 136, according to an Anadolu tally based on announcements from Lebanon's official news agency.

The deal came into force Nov. 27 in hopes of ending 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. It is, however, described as fragile, as countless violations were documented by Lebanon.

Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel is to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line de facto border in a phased manner while the Lebanese army deploys its forces in southern Lebanon within a maximum of 60 days.

Implementation is to be overseen by the US and France, but details on enforcement mechanisms remain unclear.

More than 4,000 people have been killed and over 16,500 injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon, in addition to an excess of 1 million displaced since October 2023, according to Lebanese health authorities.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala