The head of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, pledged on Friday to coordinate closely with the Lebanese army to implement a ceasefire deal with Israel, which he said his group had agreed to "with heads held high".
It was his first address since a ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday after more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel that decimated swathes of Lebanon and killed 4,000 people including hundreds of women and children.
Qassem said Hezbollah had "approved the deal, with the resistance strong in the battlefield, and our heads held high with our right to defend (ourselves)."
The ceasefire stipulates that Hezbollah will withdraw from areas south of the Litani river, which runs some 30 km (20 miles) north of the border with Israel, and that the Lebanese army will deploy troops there as Israeli ground troops withdraw.
"There will be high-level coordination between the Resistance (Hezbollah) and the Lebanese army to implement the commitments of the deal," Qassem said.
The Lebanese army has already sent additional troops to the south but is preparing a detailed deployment plan to share with Lebanon's cabinet, security sources and officials have said.
That effort has been complicated by the continuing presence of Israeli troops on Lebanese territory. The deal grants them a full 60 days to complete their withdrawal.
The Israeli military has issued restrictions on people returning to villages along Lebanon's border with Israel and has fired at people in those villages in recent days, calling those movements a violation of the truce.
Both the Lebanese army and Hezbollah have accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire in those instances, and by launching an airstrike above the Litani River on Thursday.
Qassem said the group had scored a "divine victory" against Israel even greater than that declared after the two foes last fought in 2006.
"To those that were betting that Hezbollah would be weakened, we are sorry, their bets have failed," he said.
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Israeli airstrikes on the town of Kfar Hatta in Lebanon have reportedly killed six people and injured two, according to Lebanese media.
More than 1.1 million people have been forced from their homes in Lebanon, according to the United Nations, as the UN spokesman says the humanitarian situation is worsening. Israel recently announced it intends to annex part of Southern Lebanon.
Fears of wider escalation grow despite President Donald Trump saying U.S. strikes on Iran could end within weeks. Meanwhile missile attacks, tanker incidents and rising casualties across Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf heighten risks to regional stability and energy routes.
The war in Iran has rapidly upended regional security, triggering spillover across the Middle East and raising fears of wider economic disruption that could threaten globalisation.
One U.S. crew member has been rescued after two American warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, as the search continues for a missing pilot, while President Donald Trump has given Tehran 48 hours to agree to a deal to end the war.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote next week on a Bahraini resolution to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and protect commercial shipping, diplomats said on Friday, amid opposition from China to any authorisation of force.
One crew member from a U.S. warplane shot down over Iran has been rescued, U.S. officials said, as a search continues for a second crew member.
The U.S. rescued an airman missing from one of two warplanes downed in Iran, two U.S. officials said, as President Donald Trump and Israel stepped up pressure on Iran to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on energy facilities.
The family of the late Virginia Giuffre have urged King Charles III to meet survivors of sexual abuse during his upcoming state visit to the United States.
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The family of the late Virginia Giuffre have urged King Charles III to meet survivors of sexual abuse during his upcoming state visit to the United States.
British police have arrested a fourth person in connection with an arson attack on ambulances belonging to a Jewish community charity. The arrest took place at a London court on Saturday, where three other suspects were already appearing.
Senegal has taken steps to curb government spending by banning non-essential foreign travel for ministers, as rising global oil prices place increasing pressure on the country’s finances.
Five people have been killed and 19 others injured in a Russian drone strike on a market in the front-line Ukrainian city of Nikopol, Ukrainian officials say.
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