CNN —
Hezbollah supports efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon, a senior group official said on Tuesday, marking the first time the group has publicly supported a ceasefire without making it conditional on an end to the war in Gaza.
“We support the political efforts led by Parliament Speaker (Nabi) Berri under the banner of achieving a ceasefire. Once the ceasefire is firmly established and diplomacy has been achieved, all other details will be discussed and cooperation will take place. The decision will be taken accordingly,” said Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah began firing on Israel on October 8 last year in a show of solidarity with Hamas, which had launched attacks on Israel from Gaza the day before. Hezbollah has previously said it would stop attacking Israel only if a ceasefire is reached with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. But Israel insisted that Hezbollah separate its conflict with Israel from its ongoing war with Hamas.
In a speech marking the first anniversary of Hezbollah’s involvement in the war, Qasem did not mention a ceasefire in Gaza as a condition for achieving a ceasefire in Lebanon. Qasem’s speech was his second since Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah late last month. Israel has since carried out a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, which continues to fire rockets into northern Israel.
Nabih Berri, leader of the Shi’ite Amal party, which is allied with Hezbollah, is a key figure in negotiations for a Western-mediated ceasefire.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told CNN last week that Prime Minister Nasrallah agreed to a temporary ceasefire called for by U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and other allies during the United Nations General Assembly last month. Ta. Shortly after, Nasrallah was assassinated by Israel.
U.S. officials told CNN that the Biden administration is not actively seeking to revive the nuclear deal and would seek to shape and limit Israeli operations in Lebanon and against Iran rather than halt hostilities. He said he was giving up.
In an interview with Sky News on Sunday, Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotvely said Prime Minister Nasrallah had not agreed to a ceasefire and called Bou Habib's claims “ridiculous”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video message on Tuesday that Israel had “eliminated” Nasrallah’s successor Hashem Saffieddin. But the Israeli military said it was still investigating whether he was killed in the attack on Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke directly to the Lebanese people in his message, urging them to stand up to Hezbollah and “take back our country” and threatening a Gaza-style war if they did not respond.
“Christians, Druze, Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites alike, all of you are suffering because of Hezbollah’s futile war in Israel,” Netanyahu said. “We have a chance to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will bring the same destruction and suffering we are seeing in Gaza,” he continued.
Israel’s war against Hezbollah has killed more than 1,400 people in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Lebanese authorities say more than 1.2 million people have been evacuated since fighting escalated last month.
Despite agreeing to ceasefire talks, much of Qasem’s speech on Tuesday carried a defiant tone, emphasizing Hezbollah’s readiness and ability to continue fighting Israel.
“If the enemy continues the war, the battlefield will be decisive, and the battlefield is ours,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah fired a massive barrage of rockets into the Israeli cities of Haifa and Kiryat, one of the largest in the city since the start of the war. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the rockets were fired in two separate rounds from Lebanon. The military said at least two buildings in Kiryat Yam and Kiryat Motzkin were hit by direct hits, while many rockets were intercepted or fell into open areas.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military announced it had expanded “limited, localized and targeted operations” into southwestern Lebanon.
