Netanyahu Decides to Ceasefire in Lebanon, Hezbollah Rejects Israel's "Freedom of Movement"

SadaNews - Israeli Channel 12 reported today, Saturday, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israeli army to ceasefire without withdrawing from the controlled areas in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah held Israel fully responsible for violating the ceasefire announced on Friday.

The Israeli channel stated that the decision by Netanyahu and Katz was made in coordination with the United States, noting that the ceasefire instructions were communicated to the forces operating on the ground.

For its part, the Walak website quoted an Israeli military source stating that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir issued instructions for a ceasefire in southern Lebanon following a security assessment meeting.

US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding remotely on Wednesday night, which stipulated the cessation of hostilities including the front in Lebanon, opening the Strait of Hormuz, and lifting the US blockade on Iranian ports. This is supposed to be followed by negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement within 60 days, covering key issues including the Iranian nuclear program.

Subsequently, an American official announced on Friday that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to a ceasefire, with mediation from Iran and Qatar. However, the battlefield situation did not show any notable change.

300 Violations and Attacks

In Beirut, Hezbollah announced that Israel bears full responsibility for the violation of the ceasefire, as Israeli strikes targeted southern and eastern Lebanon.

The party stated in a statement that "the aggressions and massacres committed by the Israeli enemy are no longer merely breaches of the ceasefire agreement, but constitute a described aggression and a continuation of the war in every sense of the word. Therefore, full responsibility lies with the Israeli occupation."

It added that "the enemy's claims that we are violating the ceasefire agreement are a blatant attempt to sabotage the agreement between Iran and the United States," clarifying that "Israeli violations since the dawn of Friday have reached 300 documented breaches and assaults."

The party in its statement asserted that "Lebanon and its resistance have the right to defend against Israeli aggressions, and no one has the right to deprive it of that, noting that "the enemy's attempts to establish freedom of movement is rejected and will not go unanswered, and expelling the occupation is a matter of time."

Since March 2, 2026, Israel has been waging a wide-ranging aggression against Lebanon, which has resulted in 3,980 fatalities and more than 12,000 injuries, in addition to over a million displaced persons, according to data from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.