Netanyahu: Lebanon must ‘uphold its commitments’ to disarm Hezbollah

PM says Lebanese terror group is ‘trying to rearm and recuperate,’ as hundreds gather in south Lebanon for funeral of five operatives slain by IDF in recent strikes

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Hezbollah was looking to rearm and that Israel would do whatever is necessary to prevent that from happening.

“Hezbollah is constantly taking hits, but it’s also trying to rearm and recuperate,” said Netanyahu at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting,

“We expect the Lebanese government to uphold its commitments, namely, to disarm Hezbollah. But it’s clear that we’ll exercise our right to self-defense as stipulated in the ceasefire terms,” he said. “We won’t let Lebanon become a renewed front against us, and we’ll do what’s necessary.”

The IDF confirmed Sunday morning that it had killed four members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force in an airstrike in southern Lebanon on Saturday night. A fifth Hezbollah officer was killed Friday.

Under the November 27 ceasefire deal, which followed over a year of hostilities, Hezbollah was required to vacate southern Lebanon and be replaced by the Lebanese military. Israel, which invaded Lebanon late September last year, was also required to withdraw, but regularly strikes what it says are Hezbollah targets breaching the ceasefire, and maintains a troop presence in five strategic locations.

On Sunday, Egypt stated its support for Beirut’s position, with Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly saying in a joint press conference in Beirut with his Lebanese counterpart Nawaf Salam that “we reject any Israeli presence on Lebanese territory, and we support you in taking the necessary steps to stabilize the current situation in Lebanon.”

Netanyahu’s comments came after Defense Minister Israel Katz accused Lebanese President Joseph Aoun of “dragging his feet” on the matter.

However, Lebanese army sources told Reuters last week they had blown up so many Hezbollah arms caches that they had run out of explosives and they expect to complete their sweep of the country’s south by the end of the year.

‘Israel has been our enemy for decades’

Meanwhile, hundreds of people gathered in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon for the funeral of five recently slain Hezbollah members.

Four of the slain operatives, who were killed by the IDF on Saturday, were members of the elite Radwan unit, and the fifth, who was killed on Friday, was a Hezbollah logistics officer working to reestablish Hezbollah’s infrastructure in south Lebanon, according to the IDF.

The men’s coffins were draped in Hezbollah’s flag while mourners threw petals and chanted “death to Israel, death to America.” Hezbollah members in military garb were present, swearing loyalty to Hassan Nasrallah, the group’s leader who was killed by Israel in September 2024, and to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Some held pictures of relatives killed by Israel, according to an AFP correspondent.

“This is a price the south is paying on a daily basis,” Rana Hamed, the mother of one the five men killed, told AFP. “We know that Israel has been our enemy for decades.”

The recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah was sparked when the terror group began near-daily attacks on northern Israel on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Iran-backed terror group Hamas invaded southern Israel, sparking the Gaza war.

Hezbollah’s attacks displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel. In a bid to ensure their return home, Israel in September last year escalated operations in Lebanon, decimating Hezbollah’s leadership.

Once the dominant political party in Lebanon, Hezbollah was severely weakened by the war with Israel. While it has publicly committed to the ceasefire, Hezbollah insists that its disarmament as mentioned in the text of the agreement applies only to south Lebanon. The terror group has also hinted conflict is possible if the state moves against it.