Hezbollah noncommittal to Lebanon-Israel ceasefire after US breakthrough

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected a ceasefire negotiated between Lebanon and Israel after a fourth round of political talks in Washington that mandates a full cessation of hostilities by the Iran-backed party.

In a statement after the talks, the US State Department said the ceasefire “is contingent on a complete cessation of Hezbollah fire and the evacuation of all Hezbollah operatives from the South Litani Sector,” referring to the river in southern Lebanon. The State Department said the agreement includes “pilot zones” where the Lebanese military would assume full control.

The Lebanese military said on Thursday that one of its units had begun deploying in Debbine, in south Lebanon's Marjayoun district, following Israel's withdrawal from the town.

Qassem rejected the terms, saying the ceasefire must be comprehensive and make no distinction between southern Lebanon and the rest of the country. “We have not given any commitment to refrain from resisting aggression and responding to it,” his statement read.

He described the ceasefire as “a declaration of intent to sabotage and destabilize Lebanon” and called on Lebanese officials to stop direct negotiations with Israel.

Israel continued carrying out airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Thursday. At least one person was killed in an Israeli drone strike that hit a motorcycle in the Tyre district's Maaroub.

Hezbollah said it had launched a salvo of rockets at Israeli military vehicles and forces positioned in the southern town of Qantara.

UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, announced on Thursday that one of its members was killed and two more wounded in a mortar attack on its position near Marjayoun the previous night.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices dropped roughly 3% on Thursday following a Wall Street Journal report that President Donald Trump is hesitant to escalate to full-scale war with Iran.

In a message carried by Iranian state media on Thursday, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that Iran’s enemies, having been defeated on the battlefield, were now seeking to undermine public resilience and sow internal divisions.

The Republican-led US House of Representatives approved a measure on Wednesday night forcing Trump to seek congressional approval for further military action against Iran in a rare rebuke of the White House. Trump called the vote "unpatriotic."