Posters of Hezbollah’s slain leaders Hassan Nasrallah (L) and Hashem Safieddine are placed amid destruction caused by Israeli strikes against the Iran backed- group in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on December 4, 2024. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP). Their funeral will be held on Feb 23
Israeli PM Netanyahu says Hezbollah must be disarmed, preferably by Lebanese military.He vowed that Israel is committed to the Lebanese ceasefire agreements and expects that Lebanon will be likewise committed to them as per UN resolution 1701 and 1559 which call for disarming the Iranian- backed militant group
TEL AVIV-Hezbollah must be disarmed, preferably by the Lebanese military, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem.
“Hezbollah must be disarmed. And Israel would prefer that the Lebanese army do that job, but no one should doubt that Israel will do what it has to do to enforce the understandings of the ceasefire and defend our security,” he said, adding that the two UN resolutions on this matter, namely 1559 and 1701, must be implemented. He vowed that Israel is committed to the Lebanese ceasefire agreements and expects that Lebanon will be likewise committed to them.
The truce agreement, concluded as a result of US-French mediation on November 27, 2024, provides for the deployment of the Lebanese army along the southern border with the support of UN peacekeepers and the withdrawal of Hezbollah militias beyond the Litani River. In return, Israel is obliged to pull its forces out of southern Lebanon within up to 60 days. On January 27, the White House said that an agreement had been reached to extend the timeframe for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Lebanese territory until February 18.
Hezbollah announced on February 2 that the the funeral of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and his heir apparent Hashem Safieddine will take place on Feb. 23, months after he was assassinated in a series of Israeli airstrikes in a southern Beirut suburb.
Secretary-General Naim Kassem made the announcement regarding his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah in a prerecorded speech. It came days after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the war between the Lebanese militant group and Israel was extended until Feb. 18.
TASS