Nasrallah and Netanyahu Agreed to Ceasefire Before Strike, Says Lebanese Minister

According to Foreign Minister of Lebanon Abdallah Bou Habib Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to a ceasefire shortly before Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike last week. 

Bou Habib confirmed that both the U.S. and French representatives were informed of the ceasefire agreement, they made it clear during a talk an American broadcaster.

Nasrallah was in a bunker in Dahiyeh which is located at the southern suburb of Beirut, when it was hit by Israeli bombs on September 27. While Hezbollah’s official statement on his death didn’t clarify the reason. However according to the reports of Reuters his body had no direct wounds, and blunt trauma from the blast’s force was likely responsible for his death.

“He agreed to the ceasefire,” Bou Habib told PBS, adding that Lebanon, after consulting with Hezbollah, had fully supported the ceasefire and passed this information to both the U.S. and France. He also mentioned that Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri consulted Hezbollah before the decision was communicated to international leaders. Bou Habib added that Netanyahu had initially agreed to the ceasefire decision, though Israeli military operations resumed the following day.

On September 25, the U.S., France, and other allies announced a 21-day ceasefire after meetings between U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron at the UN General Assembly. However, Netanyahu ordered continued military action the next day.

Iran gave a Warning to Nasrallah

Reuters reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had warned Nasrallah to flee Lebanon before the Israeli strike. According to sources, Khamenei’s message was delivered by Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan, a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who was killed alongside Nasrallah in the bunker.

Israeli Ground Incursion

On Tuesday, Israel launched a limited ground incursion in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah forces. So far, over 1,900 people have been killed and around 9,000 injured in Lebanon since Hezbollah began cross-border engagements with Israel following Hamas’s attack on October 7 last year, which triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.