Hezbollah vows to continue its ‘legitimate response’ to Israeli ceasefire violations 

Hezbollah has strongly denounced Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for accusing the resistance movement of undermining a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, vowing to continue its “legitimate response” to the Israeli regime’s continuous violations of the truce.

“Today, the criminal Israeli enemy Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Hezbollah is undermining the ceasefire and that the enemy has the right to freedom of action in Lebanon, according to the agreement with the United States and Lebanon,” Hezbollah said in a statement on Sunday.

Hezbollah stressed that Israeli statements are a desperate attempt to implicate the Lebanese authorities in a bilateral agreement made solely between the Tel Aviv regime and Washington.

At the same time, Hezbollah criticized the Lebanese authorities for participating in direct talks with Israel, recently held in the US capital.

The Lebanese authorities claimed that their main condition for attending the ominous meeting in Washington with the enemy was an end to its attacks and the start of its withdrawal from occupied Lebanese lands, the statement said.

“However, we did not hear any clear, public statement from them setting that condition. On the contrary, what was issued by Lebanon’s representative was only praise for the American president — the enemy’s partner in shedding Lebanese blood — which encouraged the enemy to persist in its attacks and violations.”

A 10-day pause in hostilities in Lebanon began on April 16 and was later extended for another three weeks.

Hezbollah noted that Israeli violations have already exceeded 500 on land, at sea, and in the air, including shelling, demolitions, and the destruction of homes.

“Extending the truce for additional weeks was supposed — according to what the Lebanese authorities declared — to lead to a real ceasefire in which the enemy would halt its violations and aggressions, especially the demolition and destruction of homes in the south,” the statement added.

Instead, Israel has escalated its aggression and attacks, confirming once again its criminal nature, treachery, and utter contempt for all international laws and charters.

The Lebanese group emphasized that retaliatory actions by its resistance fighters against Israeli military positions are entirely legitimate.

“The resistance’s continued targeting of Israeli enemy gatherings on our occupied land, and its shelling of enemy settlements in northern occupied Palestine, constitute a legitimate response to its continuous violations of the ceasefire since the very first day the temporary truce was announced.”

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The Israeli military has ordered the forced evacuation of seven villages in southern Lebanon on Sunday, citing alleged violations of a recently renewed ceasefire agreement by Hezbollah.

Hezbollah also warned the Lebanese authorities against placing themselves in a dangerous position “by agreeing to be captured in a single shameful photo with representatives of a usurping, illegitimate entity that violates our land and sovereignty and continues to kill our people, and by pursuing paths that legitimize this enemy’s attacks.”

“The authorities stand today silent and incapable of carrying out their most basic national duties toward their land and people, as they watch the enemy demolish homes and burn everything in its path,” it added. 

Hezbollah demanded that the Lebanese authorities “provide a clear explanation to their people regarding the enemy’s pretext of an agreement with them that grants it the freedom to attack, destroy, and kill.”

“We will not wait for or bet on failed diplomacy that has proven its futility,” the statement concluded.

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