Lebanese FM: Lebanon, Hezbollah, ready to fully implement ceasefire

"Everyone is committed to implementing it from all Lebanese components," Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Rashid Bou Habib said.

By SAM HALPERN NOVEMBER 28, 2024 10:08

Illustrative image of Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Rashid Bou Habib (photo credit: Canva, REUTERS/DADO RUVIC/ILLUSTRATION, REUTERS/GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE)

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Rashid Bou Habib said that all of the “Lebanese components,” including Hezbollah, were committed to implementing the ceasefire in Lebanon in a Wednesday interview with Qatari state-funded news outlet Al Jazeera.

"If Israel begins to violate the resolution, this means that it is not implementing it," Bou Habib told Al Jazeera, adding that "everyone is committed to implementing it from all Lebanese components".

In the wake of the ceasefire, which went into effect at 4:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday, the Lebanese foreign minister told the Qatari media giant that Lebanon was committed to implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 “to the letter.”

“The last Israeli soldier will withdraw after 60 days, without a doubt," Bou Habib confirmed. 

An Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon is included in the phased 60-day transition period stipulated by the ceasefire agreement.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Lebanon's Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib look on during an international aid conference in support of Lebanon, in Paris, France on October 24, 2024. (credit: ALAIN JOCARD/Pool via REUTERS)

10,000 Lebanese troops headed to southern Lebanon

Bou Habib noted in the interview that the Lebanese army was moving into southern Lebanon and that around 5,000 soldiers would join the 5,000 already there.

Lebanese Defense Minister Maurice Sleem told Al Jazeera on Wednesday morning that the deployment of soldiers in southern Lebanon was set to increase to 10,000 troops.

The soldiers will join the UNIFIL troops in the region.

Bou Habib claimed that there was no chance of a dispute between the army and Hezbollah, just as there hasn’t been in recent decades.

According to the foreign minister, the terror organization, which he described as a “resistance movement for the Lebanese people," had accepted the agreement “in its entirety.”

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Bou Habib added, though, that “the existence of the resistance is justified by the occupation, so if there is an occupation, there will be resistance.”

Hezbollah vowed on Wednesday that it would continue its “resistance,” Reuters reported.

"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, adding that it would observe the IDF’s withdrawal from Lebanon "with their hands on the trigger."