Hezbollah says reinforced fighters in south Lebanon despite disarmament

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has brought reinforcements and weapons to the south of the country since the start of the war with Israel on 2 March, the organisation’s director of media relations said on Friday.

The Lebanese army said that in January it had finished disarming the group near the Israeli border in southern Lebanon, the scene of multiple wars between Israel and Hezbollah, the most recent of which was brought to a halt on 17 April by a ceasefire.

The army had been enacting a plan that it drew up after a 2024 ceasefire agreement that ended the last war between the two.

Speaking during an interview with a group of journalists including from AFP, Youssef Al Zein said the group had been able to “introduce forces and arms in the course of the battle” with Israel.

Zein said the reinforcements did not use roads controlled by the Lebanese army.

“We are convinced that the army is a national army” that “will not enter into a confrontation with Hezbollah”, he…