HEZBOLLAH’s leader says he will work with the Lebanese army to enforce the ceasefire the group agreed with Israel, as the shaky truce largely held on its third day after more than a year of fighting.
In his first televised address since the truce went into effect, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said on Friday that he did not envision “problems or disagreement” with the army, which under the terms of the deal will deploy to southern Lebanon over 60 days as Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces withdraw.
“The coordination between the resistance and the Lebanese army will be at a high level to implement the commitments of the agreement,” Qassem said.
“We will work to … strengthen Lebanon’s defensive capacities,” he said.
“The resistance will be ready to prevent the enemy from taking advantage of Lebanon’s weakness along with our partners … first and foremost the army,” he added.
The Lebanese army has sent some troops to the south and is preparing a detailed deployment plan to share with Lebanon’s cabinet, the Reuters news agency reported, citing security sources and officials.
Under the terms of the US-brokered truce, Israeli forces have 60 days to complete their withdrawal, which could delay a larger deployment of Lebanese army forces.
The Israeli military has issued restrictions on people returning to villages along Lebanon’s border with Israel and has fired at people in those villages in recent days, calling those movements a violation of the truce.
Both the Lebanese army and Hezbollah have accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire in those instances, and by launching an air strike north of the Litani River on Thursday.
Israeli warplanes launched air strikes on southern Lebanon on Friday, claiming they were targeting Hezbollah weapons.
Israeli forces stationed in the town of Khiam – which include at least four tanks – on Friday opened fire at people as they tried to bury a body in the cemetery.
“There’s been gunshots towards civilians. There’s been artillery bombardment. There’s been Merkava tanks launching shells on several areas,” said Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tyre in Lebanon.
Qassem also declared a “divine victory” in the group’s war with Israel and claimed that the victory was even bigger than the one in 2006, when Hezbollah and Israel fought for 34 days.