Men carry Hezbollah flags and a picture depicting late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, as they drive past damaged buildings at the entrance of Beirut’s southern suburbs after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Wednesday (November 27, 2024) vowed to continue its resistance and support Palestinians, including fighters, a day after a ceasefire deal between the group and Israel was announced.

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In the first statement by Hezbollah’s operations centre since the deal was announced, the group made no direct mention of the ceasefire deal.

“The Islamic resistance’s operations room affirms that its fighters in all military disciplines will remain fully equipped to deal with the aspirations and assaults of the Israeli enemy,” the group said.

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It added that its fighters would continue to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces beyond the Lebanese borders “with their hands on the trigger”.

The ceasefire deal includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon within 60 days, Israeli officials said.

The deal, brokered by the U.S. and France, ended the deadliest confrontation between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group in years. Israel is still fighting the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah meets Jihad Secretary General Ziyad al-Nakhalah and deputy leader of Hamas, Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri at an unidentified location in this handout image released on October 25, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

“Senior officials of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have held talks with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah about achieving “real victory” in their war with Israel,” the Lebanese group said on October 25.

The Hezbollah statement did not specify when or where Nasrallah met with Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri and Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh beyong saying that it was at a undisclosed location in Lebanon.

News of the meeting comes as Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions exchange daily fire with the Israeli Army across the Lebanon-Israel border, raising fears of a new front in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

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The three groups are part of the “axis of resistance” — Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian and other Iran-backed armed groups opposed to Israel.

They discussed what “the axis of resistance must do at this critical stage to achieve real victory… in Gaza and Palestine and stop” Israel’s “brutal aggression”, the statement said.

They also discussed “recent events in the Gaza Strip since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” — the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in Israel.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza says 5,791 people have been killed, again mostly civilians, as Israel has bombarded the territory. Hassan Nasrallah and the Palestinian militant leaders “agreed to keep coordinating and daily following up on developments,” the statement added.

Hezbollah and Hamas have long been part of a “joint operations room” with the Quds Force — the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards — a source close to Hezbollah previously told AFP on condition of anonymity.

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“The meeting also touched upon the cross-border fire on the Lebanon-Israel border,” the statement said.

At least 52 people have been killed in Lebanon according to an AFP tally, mostly Hezbollah combatants but also four civilians, including Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah. Four people have been killed in Israel, including one civilian.