Hezbollah MP Ali Fayad during the ceremony held in Naqoura to pay tribute to the victims of the Israeli bombings in Taybeh. (Credit: Photo sent by our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah MP Ali Fayad warned that the party would not remain passive if Israel fails to withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, the deadline for implementing the terms of the truce negotiated between the two sides. The clashes, which began as sporadic cross-border attrition clashes on Oct. 8, 2023, escalated into war by last September, which ended in a cease-fire agreement brokered under the auspices of France and the U.S. on Nov. 27.
"We in Hezbollah are waiting for the date of Jan. 26, the day on which the cease-fire requires a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. If the Israeli enemy does not comply with this, it will mean the collapse of the executive measures paper [the cease-fire agreement], the destruction of the mechanism that included it and the undermining of the international role of sponsoring this agreement," Fayad said at a ceremony in Nabatieh honoring the victims of Israeli bombings in Taybeh, in the Marjayoun district.
A statement from Hezbollah quoting his remarks noted that Fayad said such a scenario would place "all Lebanese, without exception, in front of a new stage and the new calculations it imposes, whose title is confronting the Israeli occupation by all possible means and methods to expel it from our land."
"This confrontation is the responsibility of all the Lebanese, government, Army, people, parties and resistance, except for those who want to exclude themselves because the south, the blessed Lebanese land, means nothing to them."
Technical meeting
Fayad's remarks echoed the speech made by Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Saturday. Qassem addressed the Lebanese State and the international community, warning them "not to test the patience" of Hezbollah, on the eve of the implementation of the truce between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
During a two-day visit to Lebanon, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres reassured that the international community "will not accept the resumption of the war." Meanwhile, newly elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun demanded that Israel withdraw from the Lebanese territories it occupies within the set deadline.
A meeting of the technical committee monitoring the cease-fire is scheduled for Monday in Naqoura, in the southern Sour district, according to information from our regional correspondent. The meeting aims to finalize steps for the central sector of southern Lebanon, from which Israel is expected to withdraw and where the Lebanese Army is set to deploy. The committee will review the final sector, located to the east, on Tuesday. The two-month period for implementing the cease-fire terms will end on Jan. 26.
