Hezbollah Refuses to Extend Lebanon Ceasefire with Israel

People gather in front of army soldiers after being barred from returning to the village of Aitaroun, Bint Jbeil District, southern Lebanon, 27 January 2025. (EPA)
People gather in front of army soldiers after being barred from returning to the village of Aitaroun, Bint Jbeil District, southern Lebanon, 27 January 2025. (EPA)
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Hezbollah Refuses to Extend Lebanon Ceasefire with Israel

People gather in front of army soldiers after being barred from returning to the village of Aitaroun, Bint Jbeil District, southern Lebanon, 27 January 2025. (EPA)
People gather in front of army soldiers after being barred from returning to the village of Aitaroun, Bint Jbeil District, southern Lebanon, 27 January 2025. (EPA)

Hezbollah used the return of residents of southern Lebanon to their homes and their confrontations with Israeli forces to portray itself as still in control of the security situation on the ground.

Twenty-four people were killed and over 120 wounded in the clashes as residents tried to make their way back to their homes in the South at the end of the deadline in the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem declared on Monday that the developments over the past two days are a “violation of the ceasefire and underscore Lebanon’s need for the resistance (Hezbollah).”

He stressed that his Iran-backed party rejects the extension of the ceasefire, adding that Israel must withdraw from areas it is still occupying in southern Lebanon. “We will not accept any justification for the extension of the 60-day ceasefire,” he stated.

The ceasefire has been extended to February 18.

The United States and France - countries sponsoring the ceasefire - as well as the United Nations, will be held responsible for the consequences of the delay in the withdrawal, Qassem went on to say.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah declared that “the resistance alone protects the land and can help the people return to their homes.”

In a statement on Sunday, he stressed: “No one can eliminate the ‘army, people, resistance’ term from the ministerial statement.”

Lebanon is in the process of forming a new government and the term has often been a point of contention between rival political blocs, with opponents now demanding that it be omitted from the new cabinet’s statement.

As residents of the South made their way home on Sunday, later that day, Hezbollah supporters riding on motorcycles roamed the Beirut neighborhoods that are known for their opposition to the party.

Riding through the Christian neighborhood of Ain al-Rummaneh and Sunni Sakiet al-Janzeer, the supporters flew Hezbollah flags and chanted party and sectarian slogans to incite the residents in scenes that were shared on social media and widely condemned in the country.

Lebanese citizens return to their destruction homes caused by the Israeli air and ground offensive, in Aita al-Shaab, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP)

Domineering mentality

Observers said the provocations were a direct message to newly elected President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam in that “no one can eliminate Hezbollah’s popular support and that the party can reshuffle the political and security cards if it does not get what it wants in the new government and ministerial statement.”

Leading member of the Lebanese Forces and former MP Antoine Zahra said: “Hezbollah is once again using its domineering approach against the Lebanese people given its military and political losses.”

“It is trying to compensate for these losses through politics” after it had been controlling the country for years, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He wondered at the “state of denial Hezbollah is experiencing and its provocations of neighborhoods that had taken in its supporters during the war.”

He said Sunday’s provocations in Beirut were an attempt by Hezbollah to demonstrate its domineering approach and hegemony over the majority of the Lebanese people.

Return to South

In a statement on Sunday, Hezbollah said the return of the residents of the South to their homes was a new demonstration of “dignity written by the people of the resistance. These people are the resistance’s most powerful weapon.”

“We bow before the might of the people of the resistance and underscore that the ‘army, people and resistance’ equation protects Lebanon from enemies, and it is not just empty words. It is a reality experienced by the Lebanese people every day. They embody it with their perseverance and sacrifices,” continued the statement.

It called on “all Lebanese people to stand by the residents of the south to demonstrate national solidarity and build a new meaning for sovereignty that is based on liberation and victory.”

The images of people returning to their homes in the South in defiance of Israel and the Hezbollah convoys in Beirut gave the party a morale boost and it has been using it to impose its conditions on the formation of the new government, including the “army, people and resistance” equation.

The majority of the Lebanese people believe that the equation no longer stands given Hezbollah’s defeat by Israel and its ensuing political defeat with Aoun’s election and Salam’s designation as PM.

“This equation will never again see the light of day,” stressed Zahra.

“They can do whatever they like if they take control of parliament and the government through democratic means,” he stated.

“The country must be ruled by the constitution and laws,” he demanded.

“No one can rule Lebanon alone. We must either be partners or look for some other way of running the country,” Zahra remarked. Asked to elaborate, he replied: “It could be a federation as this may offer the people a way of liberating themselves from the hegemony of Hezbollah’s weapons.”

Loyal base

The developments in the South and the provocations in Beirut gave the impression that Hezbollah may still be capable of imposing its conditions through street pressure the way it has been doing since 2005.

However, political researcher and Hezbollah expert Kassem Kassir said: “The party doesn’t need such incidents to promote its image. It was still very present politically before the developments in the South unfolded.”

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the developments were a “message to everyone who questioned Hezbollah’s presence in the region and who believed that its popularity had waned.”

Moreover, they proved that Hezbollah’s supporters are still loyal to it and its choices, he said.

Lebanese troops are deployed to prevent people from returning to Mais al-Jabal, Marjeyoun District, southern Lebanon, 27 January 2025. (EPA)

Threat to civil peace

On the convoys in Beirut, Kassir said they were “spontaneous and had nothing to do with Hezbollah.”

The army has since arrested several people involved in the provocations.

In statement, it said that it carried out the arrests after “some citizens, riding on motorcycles, rode around several Lebanese regions while carrying party flags, firing gunshots and chanting provocative slogans.”

It added that it deployed patrols to “prevent the undermining of security and stability”, calling on the people to “act responsibly to protect national unity and coexistence.”

Head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Gebran Bassil – a former Hezbollah ally – condemned the provocations. The residents of the South were “heroic” as they returned to their homes on Sunday, while “sectarian provocations that night only served to tarnish this heroism,” he said in a post on the X platform.

He added that the sectarian provocations only serve to “deepen the divisions and advocates of this division. Extremism only leads to extremism and Lebanon will be the loser in the end.”

After meeting Aoun on Monday, head of the Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel remarked: “Our positive statements and openness are met with scenes we saw in Beirut on Sunday night.”

Asked if he believed the provocations were aimed at pressuring the government to include the “army, people and resistance” term in its statement, he responded: “I don’t think anyone in Lebanon can still be affected by this form of pressure.”

“We have faith in the army and state that are doing their duties” in ensuring the residents of the South return to their homes, he added. “This issue should not be exploited for political gain.”

The Kataeb later issued a statement to condemn Hezbollah’s “flagrant sectarian” provocations in Beirut. “Once again, it returns to its old domineering practices against the people, spreading chaos and stirring instability after all of its political and military goals failed and after the slogans it had long promoted turned out to be empty.”

The Lebanese Forces also slammed the provocations, saying they are part of a “wide Hezbollah campaign aimed at demonstrating that the developments in the South were a major victory for the so-called resistance, completely overlooking the 22 martyrs who were the victims of its ongoing adventures.”



UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
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UN Seeks $6 Billion to Ease Hunger Catastrophe in Sudan

Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)
Displaced Sudanese, who fled the Zamzam camp, gather near the town of Tawila in North Darfur on February 14, 2025. (AFP)

UN officials on Monday asked for $6 billion for Sudan this year from donors to help ease what they called the world's worst ever hunger catastrophe and the mass displacement of people brought on by civil war.

The UN appeal represents a rise of more than 40% from last year's for Sudan at a time when aid budgets around the world are under strain, partly due to a pause in funding announced by US President Donald Trump last month that has affected life-saving programs across the globe.

The UN says the funds are necessary because the impact of the 22-month war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - that has already displaced a fifth of its population and stoked severe hunger among around half its population - looks set to worsen.

World Food Program chief Cindy McCain, speaking via video to a room full of diplomats in Geneva, said: "Sudan is now the epicenter of the world's largest and most severe hunger crisis ever."

She did not provide figures, but Sudan's total population currently stands at about 48 million people. Among previous world famines, the Bengal Famine of 1943 claimed between 2 million and 3 million lives, according to several estimates, while millions are believed to have died in the Great Chinese Famine of 1959-61.

Famine conditions have been reported in at least five locations in Sudan, including displacement camps in Darfur, a UN statement said, and this was set to worsen with continued fighting and the collapse of basic services.

"This is a humanitarian crisis that is truly unprecedented in its scale and its gravity and it demands a response unprecedented in scale and intent," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said.

One of the famine-stricken camps was attacked by the RSF last week as the group tries to tighten its grip on its Darfur stronghold.

While some aid agencies say they have received waivers from Washington to provide aid in Sudan, uncertainty remains on the extent of coverage for providing famine relief.

The UN plan aims to reach nearly 21 million people within the country, making it the most ambitious humanitarian response so far for 2025, and requires $4.2 billion - the rest being for those displaced by the conflict.