Hezbollah has been “notified of a ceasefire” and “committed to it since this morning”, a Lebanese political source close to the Iran-backed group said on Wednesday, The National reports.
Israel has said the two-week ceasefire agreed by the US and Iran will not apply to Lebanon, where it continued to issue forced displacement orders and carry out attacks on Wednesday morning. There were no reports of Hezbollah attacks against Israel.
The group’s leader, Naim Qassem, will set out its official position in a speech that will take into account Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comment that Lebanon is excluded from the two-week ceasefire.
“It will then be decided whether [Hezbollah] will adhere to the truce or not, depending on Israel’s position,” the source said. But they warned that Hezbollah would not return to the prewar situation where Israel bombed Lebanon every day.
Mr Netanyahu's statement on Wednesday contradicted Tehran's account of the deal. The US had reportedly told Israel it would achieve its goals in the coming negotiations with Iran.
“Israel supports President [Donald] Trump's decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks subject to Iran immediately opening the [Strait of Hormuz] and stopping all attacks on the US, Israel and countries in the region,” the statement from Mr Netanyahu's office said. “The two-week ceasefire does not include Lebanon,” it added.
Iran had announced that the ceasefire includes the “cessation of the war on all fronts, including against the heroic Islamic resistance in Lebanon”.
The Lebanese army warned people displaced people from south Lebanon not to return home yet as Israeli bombings were “ongoing”. Israeli troops remain in south Lebanon after being sent across the border when Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran.
Israel attacked several locations in Lebanon, killing eight people, and causing damage to a hospital and an ambulance in the early hours of Wednesday, the state news agency NNA reported, citing officials.
An Israeli strike hit Hiram hospital in Tyre, “causing extensive damage to the building, including patient rooms and the hospital entrance, which collapsed on to parked cars”, NNA reported. Four people were killed in the attack that hit a building near the hospital.
Israel also struck an ambulance in Tyre “resulting in fatalities”, NNA added.
A car parked at Sidon's seaside promenade was also struck at dawn, “resulting in a large number of martyrs and wounded”, NNA reported. The attack took place near two cafes with customers inside.
