Hezbollah agrees to cease-fire same day Nasrallah killed in Israeli airstrike
A file photo shows a Lebanese man showing a poster of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that he found among the rubble of his house in Beirut, Lebanon, July 23, 2006. (AA Photo)
Hezbollah informed Lebanese authorities of its acceptance of a cease-fire with Israel on the same day its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike, a government source told AFP on Wednesday.
Hezbollah had previously insisted it would only agree to a truce if its Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza also reached a cease-fire.
“On September 27, Hezbollah officially informed the Lebanese government, through Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, that it accepted an international initiative for a cease-fire,” the source said.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati was at the U.N. General Assembly in New York when the U.S. and its allies proposed a 21-day cease-fire in Lebanon. Mikati communicated Hezbollah’s position to international counterparts, the source added, while negotiators awaited Israel’s response.
Netanyahu dismisses propect of truce same day
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing world leaders the same day, dismissed any prospect of a truce with Hezbollah, vowing no pause in operations until Israel’s northern border was secure.
Shortly after his speech, Israel launched a large-scale airstrike on Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut, killing Nasrallah.
Since Nasrallah’s death, the Lebanese government “has had no contact with Hezbollah,” the source noted.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem acknowledged the group’s losses but stated it remained “meticulously organized” and resilient despite “painful blows.” He voiced support for efforts by Berri, a powerful Shiite ally of Hezbollah, to secure a cease-fire in Lebanon independent of any truce in Gaza.
Hezbollah has maintained a “support” front for Hamas since the group’s attack on October 7, 2023, which ignited the Gaza war. Israel has escalated strikes against Hezbollah since September 23, resulting in more than 1,190 deaths in Lebanon and displacing over a million people.
