The ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel that was announced in Washington sparked a sharp division, as it was rejected by Hezbollah, which demanded a “comprehensive ceasefire” and a complete Israeli withdrawal, while the Lebanese president described it as a “last chance,” at a time when Israeli raids continued and eight civilians and a UNIFIL member were killed, and the Lebanese army began a trial deployment in the south.
Published on: 05/06/2026 - 04:55 Last updated: 05/06/2026 - 12:14
On Thursday, Hezbollah rejected the ceasefire agreement announced in Washington, and its Secretary-General Naim Qassem called for a “comprehensive ceasefire” and Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, considering direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel a “farce.”
His position came after an agreement sponsored by the United States on a comprehensive ceasefire conditional on Hezbollah’s “complete cessation of fire” and its withdrawal from the south of the Litani, while Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Tel Aviv will continue its operations in southern Lebanon and will not allow the return of residents, and will reserve the right to target Beirut if Hezbollah attacks the north.
In a televised speech on Al-Manar channel, Qassem described the agreement as “a roadmap to annihilate a section of the Lebanese people and enslave the rest,” considering that Hezbollah’s demand alone for a ceasefire and to leave the south is “surrender and defeat,” stressing, “As long as the aggression continues, we will confront it with all our might.” A party official explained that this position was communicated to Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, "who shares the same position."
On Thursday, Qassem renewed the demand for a “comprehensive ceasefire” and Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, stressing that “there is no division between the south and the rest of Lebanon” and that “resistance will continue” as long as the occupation persists, warning that northern Israel will not be safe and that “the settlements will not be safe” as long as Lebanese villages are bombed, demolished, and residents are killed.
"Freedom to work"
Inside Lebanon, President Joseph Aoun saw that the agreement represented the “last chance” for a comprehensive ceasefire, while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced that the army would begin deployment in “trial areas” in the south, explaining through a statement read by Information Minister Paul Morcos that this step was a “first stage” approaching “complete withdrawal.”
Regionally, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard called on Israel to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon and return to the positions it occupied before the last war.
Quds Force Commander Ismail Qaani said, “Supporting the resistance in Lebanon is a duty for each of us,” adding that “the minimum requirement of the resistance is the withdrawal of the usurping regime and its return to the positions it occupied before the start of the war.”
For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that his country supports “the ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel and anything that contributes to restoring peace” and consolidating Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"ink on paper"
On the ground, the National News Agency reported raids on more than 40 sites in southern and eastern Lebanon on Thursday. The Ministry of Health announced that at least eight people were killed in Israeli raids, five of them in the town of Sohmar in the Western Bekaa and three in the Al-Masaken area in the Tyre district, with women and children injured.
On the other hand, the Israeli army announced that an officer was killed by an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah at a tank in southern Lebanon, bringing its death toll to 28 since the beginning of March.
At the United Nations level, UNIFIL announced the killing of one member and the wounding of two on Wednesday evening in an attack condemned by Antonio Guterres, and the Serbian Ministry of Defense reported that the dead man was Sergeant Milovan Jovanovic, born in 1989, bringing the number of peacekeepers killed to seven since March. Israel accused Hezbollah, while the party denied the accusation and offered its condolences.
"Big mistake"
In northern Israel, the army announced on Thursday morning that warning sirens had been sounded near the border with Lebanon and that it had responded to “the infiltration of an enemy aircraft,” before another incident turned out to be a false alarm, while Hezbollah announced that it had carried out several attacks on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. Politically, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir described the agreement as a "big mistake."
According to the joint statement issued after the Washington talks, Lebanon and Israel agreed to establish “experimental areas” in the south over which the Lebanese army would assume “exclusive” control, excluding all non-governmental actors.
France 24/AFP
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