Hezbollah Vows to Keep Its Weapons as Lebanon Says Israeli Strikes Killed 14

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah declared on Monday that it would not lay down its weapons, a day after the authorities in Lebanon said 14 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, one of the deadliest days since a truce was declared this month.

Naim Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group, said in a written statement that it would not “relinquish its weapons or its defenses.” Israel has demanded Hezbollah’s disarmament as a precondition for ending its invasion of southern Lebanon.

But it is still far from clear whether the Lebanese government can rein in Hezbollah, whose devoted Shiite Muslim supporters and battalions of fighters have long made it Lebanon’s dominant military power.

In another sign of strains on the truce, the Israeli military said on Monday that it had attacked the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. Those strikes were some of the deepest since President Trump declared a cease-fire in the country earlier this month.

The latest war in Lebanon began in early March when Hezbollah attacked Israel after the United States and Israel launched a war on its patron, Iran.

Read more: New York Times