Lebanese Army ‘will not engage in confrontation with Hezbollah,’ party official says

Hezbollah has sent reinforcements in weapons and personnel to southern Lebanon since the start of the war with Israel on March 2, the official in charge of media for the pro-Iranian group said Friday.

The Lebanese Army had claimed in January to have disarmed the group in southern Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has continued despite a cease-fire in effect since April 17.

In an interview with a group of journalists, including AFP, Hezbollah’s director of media relations, Youssef Zein, said that the group had been able to "bring in forces and weapons during the battle."

According to the cease-fire agreement that ended the previous war between Hezbollah and Israel in November 2024, the Lebanese Army had said it dismantled the organization’s military structures between the Israeli border and the Litani River, about 30 kilometers further north.

According to Zein, the reinforcements did not take the routes controlled by the Lebanese Army, which "did not close the other access points" leading to the south of the Litani River. "We are convinced that the army is a national army," which "will not get into a confrontation with Hezbollah," he said.

Hezbollah is ready ‘for a long battle’

According to the official, if Israel was able to penetrate deep into Lebanese territory — where villages have been occupied and demolished to a depth of up to eight to ten kilometers — it is because "the resistance handed over its weapons south of the Litani" and "its infrastructure, including tunnels, was destroyed." But he insisted that Hezbollah had been able to "rebuild its forces" after the last war with Israel and that it was "prepared for a long battle."

Israel announced on April 7 that it had completed the deployment of its ground troops in southern Lebanon and intended to maintain a "security zone" 10 kilometers deep.

Drones ‘made in Lebanon’

Asked about Hezbollah’s recent use of fiber-optic explosive drones against the Israeli army, Zein said it was a "tactic" used by the group. "We know the enemy’s superiority, but at the same time we exploit its weak points," he said.

Zein, who replaced Afif Naboulsi after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut in November 2024, said these drones were "made in Lebanon." The attacks with these drones have killed two and injured several others in the last three days.

Hezbollah brought Lebanon into the regional war on March 2 by launching an attack against Israel, which has carried out airstrikes that have killed more than 2,500 people in Lebanon and continue despite the truce.