Hezbollah says Lebanon is bound by ceasefire but rejects negotiations with Israel

(Reuters) -Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Thursday that the militia group had "a legitimate right to resist (Israeli) occupation", adding that it would support the Lebanese army.

Hezbollah also said that, while Lebanon was bound by a ceasefire, it was not obligated to be drawn into political negotiations with Israel.

Last week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun instructed the army to confront any Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon after Israeli forces crossed the border overnight and killed a municipal employee, despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.

"We affirm our legitimate right to resist occupation and aggression and to stand by our army and our people to protect the sovereignty of our country," the group said.

Hezbollah also said that it was exercising its right to defend itself against "an enemy that imposes war on our country, does not stop its attacks, and seeks to subjugate our state".

The U.S. brokered a truce in November 2024 between Lebanon and Israel after more than a year of conflict sparked by the war in Gaza, but Israeli strikes across the border have continued sporadically.

(Reporting by Tala Ramadan, Nayera Abdallah and Maya Gebeily; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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