Hizbollah agreed Lebanon ceasefire before Israel killed leader: govt source

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Hizbollah told the Lebanese authorities it accepted a ceasefire with Israel the day an Israeli strike killed its leader Hassan Nasrallah, a government source told AFP on Wednesday.

 

Previously, the Iran-backed group had said it would only accept a truce if there was also one with its Palestinian ally Hamas in Gaza.

 

"On September 27, Hizbollah officially informed the Lebanese government, via parliament speaker Nabih Berri, that he accepted an international initiative for a ceasefire," the source said.

 

Prime Minister Najib Mikati was at the UN General Assembly in New York that day, when the United States and its allies put forward a proposal for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon.

 

Mikati informed his counterparts of Hizbollah's position, the source said, and international negotiators were waiting to hear back from Israel.

 

But Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his speech to world leaders the same day that there would be no let-up in the battle against Hizbollah until Israel's northern border was secured.

 

After he spoke, Israel's air force carried out a huge strike on Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, killing Nasrallah.

 

Since his death, the Lebanese government "has had no contact with Hezbollah", the source added.

 

The group's deputy leader, Naim Qassem, said on Tuesday that the party was "meticulously organised" and had overcome "painful blows".

 

He said Hizbollah supported efforts led by Berri, a powerful Shiite ally of Hezbollah, for a ceasefire in Lebanon, independent of Gaza truce efforts.

 

Hizbollah a year ago opened what it calls a "support" front for Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack sparked the Gaza war.

 

But Israel has increased its strikes against Hizbollah since September 23, killing more than 1,190 people in Lebanon and displacing more than a million from their homes.