A United Nations Security Council delegation visiting Lebanon on Saturday called on all sides to uphold the November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, stressing the need for Lebanon to maintain a state monopoly on weapons, AFP reported.
Israel has struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon even after the ceasefire went into effect, due to the fact that the terrorist organization continues to rebuild its military infrastructure and maintain an armed presence near Israel’s northern border.
Most recently, Israel eliminated Hezbollah’s Chief of Staff, Haytham Ali Tabtabai, in a strike in Beirut.
Responding to the elimination, Hezbollah’s leader Naim Qassem declared that the terror group has the right to respond.
"We came to Beirut at a pivotal time for the implementation of... the cessation of hostilities agreement of November of last year," Slovenian UN ambassador Samuel Zbogar, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, said on Saturday.
"All parties must uphold the November 2024 cessation of hostilities agreement, and we recognise progress achieved by Lebanon this year," he added.
Zbogar reaffirmed the Council’s support for Lebanon’s "territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence," and stressed commitment to the full implementation of Resolution 1701, the 2006 decision that underpins the current truce.
Facing heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon’s government has pledged to disarm Hezbollah. The Lebanese army is preparing to dismantle the group’s military infrastructure along the border by year’s end, before moving to other areas.
Qassem, however, condemned the Lebanese government's plan to disarm the terror organization and has repeatedly vowed that Hezbollah would keep its arms.