Hezbollah keeping ‘hands on trigger’ amid fragile ceasefire with Israel

Hezbollah has vowed to continue resisting Israel and is monitoring its army’s withdrawal from south Lebanon “with their hands on the trigger”, said the militia in its first comments since aceasefirewent into effect on Wednesday. The Iran-allied Shia group did not directly mention the truce, but said its fighters “remain fully equipped to deal with the aspirations and assaults of the Israeli enemy”. Hezbollah also remained committed to the Palestinian cause, said the statement from its operations centre late on Wednesday. A 60-day staged withdrawal, in which Israel will pull out of Lebanon and Hezbollah will move its fighters and heavy weaponry out of a 16-mile (25km) deep boundary buffer zone, went into effect at 4am local time on Wednesday. Thousands of displaced people in Lebanon have packed up their belongings and attempted to return to their abandoned homes in the south amid contradictory statements from officials. Lebanon’s speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri, the top interlocutor for Lebanon in negotiating the deal, said that residents could return home, while Israel has warned them not to. The truce is designed to broker a permanent end to 14 months of fighting and violations will be monitored by a US-led supervisory mechanism, but the situation on the ground remains tense. Israeli tank fire hit three towns along the boundary on Thursday morning, Lebanese security sources and state media said, wounding two people. There was no immediate comment on the tank rounds from Hezbollah or Israel, who began fighting when the Lebanese militia started firing on its neighbour in solidarity with the Palestinian group Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Crucially, Hezbollah dropped its demand that a ceasefire was contingent on an end to fighting in Gaza. In another incident on Wednesday, Israeli forces opened fire on a number of cars that attempted to enter what it said was a restricted area. The Israeli military declared a curfew for southern Lebanon from 5pm on Wednesday until 7am on Thursday, and has prohibited displaced Lebanese people from returning to their homes while its forces remain in several areas. “We do not want to harm you – but our forces will not hesitate to engage with any forbidden movements in this zone, ” spokesperson Avichay Adraee said. In Gaza, there is little hope that the momentum generated by the Lebanon ceasefire will help stop the fighting. In the past few days, Israel appears to have stepped up its campaign on the Palestinian territory, killing at least 17 people in airstrikes in the last 24 hours. Ground forces are pushing deeper into the north and south of the enclave, local residents reported. Ceasefire talks have repeatedly failed. Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, announced earlier this month it was quitting its role until both parties showed “willingness and seriousness”. Announcing the ceasefire on Tuesday, the US president, Joe Biden, said his administration would revive diplomatic efforts for a truce in Gaza, but the delinking of the fronts has strengthened Israel’s position against Hamas. There is no evidence that either side is willing to change their conditions for a truce as a result of the Lebanon deal.