Hezbollah Has Refused To Disarm After Israel Broke The Ceasefire And Launched A New Invasion Of Lebanon
“We cannot be asked to soften our stance, but rather the [Israeli] aggression should be stopped,”
Israel has launched a new ground invasion in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, violating its ceasefire with the group that began in November 2024 in an attempt to pressure Hezbollah to disarm.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November 2024, more than two months after Israel launched a full-scale war against Hezbollah on Sep. 19, 2024, following a year of cross-border clashes since Oct. 7, 2023.
However, Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire, attacking southern Lebanon multiple times.
Israel claims it is attacking Hezbollah infrastructure but has killed and injured many civilians, with its latest attack on the capital, Beirut, earlier in March.
During a speech on July 6, Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem said that the group will not disarm as long as Israel continues its military operations and killings on Lebanese soil and maintains positions in southern Lebanon.
“We cannot be asked to soften our stance, but rather the [Israeli] aggression should be stopped,” Qassem said.
On July 9, the Israeli military announced it was starting "special, targeted operations" in multiple locations near the Lebanese border, saying it was to dismantle Hezbollah and to prevent the group from re-establishing a presence close to the border.
The move came at the same time as the US and the Lebanese government are pressuring Hezbollah to disarm.
Despite the numerous prior violations, the latest Israeli escalation has raised fears the fragile ceasefire will break and increase the war zone in the region as Israel continues its genocide in Gaza, which has killed more than 58,026 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023.
Cherry Mohamed
Cherry Mohamed
