Hezbollah says it has right to defend against Israel

Hezbollah said on Thursday, November 6, that it has the right to defend itself against Israel and rejected the proposal for negotiation with the neighbouring country.

The statement came after Israel warned that it could intensify operations in Lebanon against Hezbollah, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing the group of rearming. According Arab News, Hezbollah responded saying, “We reaffirm our legitimate right… to defend ourselves against an enemy that imposes war on our country and does not cease its attacks.”

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, rejected possible negotiations with Israel saying that it doesn’t serve Lebanon’s national interest.

The Lebanese government is set to hold a meeting on the progress of disarming Hezbollah as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel. The Lebanese government has said that it is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was reached in 2024.

As part of the agreement, the Lebanese government has ordered the army to devise a plan to disarm Hezbollah, but Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz last week accused Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun of “dragging his feet.”

“The Lebanese government’s commitment to disarm Hezbollah and remove it from southern Lebanon must be implemented. Maximum enforcement will continue and even intensify; we will not allow any threat to the residents of the north,” he said.

Lebanon-Israel Ceasefire

On November 2, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hezbollah was seeking to rearm and that Israel would exercise its right to self-defence under last year’s ceasefire accord if Lebanon failed to disarm the militant group.

In November 2024, the US had brokered a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon after the two countries engaged in war over the conflict in Gaza. However, Israel has continued to attack the border region in Lebanon.