Hezbollah MP claims truce accepted by Israel covers all of Lebanon, not just Beirut

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah claims the ceasefire that his terror group and Israel accepted earlier today covers all of Lebanon, not just Beirut.

US President Donald Trump was the first to announce the ceasefire, saying the IDF would not enter Beirut, while Israel and Hezbollah would not attack each other.

While the US brokered a ceasefire in Lebanon in April that has several times been extended, Israel and Hezbollah have still exchanged daily fire, while the IDF has largely refrained from targeting Beirut at Washington’s request.

Speaking to the Hezbollah-linked Al-Manar channel, Fadlallah suggests that the dynamic will be different moving forward.

He says diplomatic efforts took place yesterday to restore calm in Lebanon after several days of each side significantly intensifying its strikes on the other.

Fadlallah claims the US proposed a ceasefire during which Hezbollah would have to halt all attacks on Israel, while Israel would only have to refrain from striking Beirut.

Fadlallah says such a proposal was unacceptable to Hezbollah.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is linked to Hezbollah and has served as an intermediary, responded that the terror group was demanding a ceasefire that covered all of Lebanon, not just Beirut, Fadlallah recalls.

The Hezbollah MP says today’s truce agreement demonstrates that his group’s position has been heard and that it was shared by Berri as well.

Fadlallah also claims that the truce is a prelude to Israel withdrawing from Lebanon, appearing to confirm reports that the deal doesn’t force Israel to withdraw from the large and growing buffer zone it established in the country’s south and center.

Israel has not officially commented on the truce, but has shown no indication that it plans to withdraw its troops. It currently maintains buffer zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, in addition to its expanding grip on the West Bank.

A full Israeli withdrawal “must be part of the solution. A full ceasefire, no return to what was before March 2. There is no such thing as freedom of movement,” Fadlallah says, referencing the dynamic before Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the Iran war.

For over a year prior, Israel carried out near-daily strikes against what it said was a regrouping Hezbollah, while the latter largely refrained from responding, leading many in Jerusalem to assume that the Iran-backed group had been deterred.