Hezbollah Says Ceasefire 'Meaningless' as Fighting Continues in South

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, (Reuters) - On Friday 24 April 2026, Lebanon's Hezbollah said that a US-mediated ceasefire in the war with Israel was meaningless a day after it was extended for three weeks, as Lebanese authorities reported two people killed by an Israeli strike and Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone.

US President Donald Trump announced the three-week extension on Thursday 23 April 2026 after hosting Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors at the White House. The ceasefire agreement between the governments of Lebanon and Israel had been due to expire on Sunday 26 April 2026.

While the ceasefire has led to a significant reduction in hostilities, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to trade blows in southern Lebanon, where Israel has kept soldiers in a self-declared "buffer zone".

Responding to the extension, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said "it is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel's insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling and gunfire" and its demolition of villages and towns in the south.

"Every Israeli attack ... gives the resistance the right to a proportionate response," he added.

Hezbollah is not a party to the ceasefire agreement, and has strongly objected to Lebanon's face-to-face contacts with Israel.

Buffer Zone

The Thursday 16 April 2026 agreement does not require Israeli troops to withdraw from the belt of southern Lebanon seized during the war. The zone extends five to ten kilometres into Lebanon.

Israel says the buffer zone aims to protect northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of rockets at Israel during the war.

Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on 2 March 2026, when the group opened fire in support of Iran in the regional war. The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in any broader truce.

Nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since 2 March, the Lebanese health ministry says.

Israeli Military Warns Residents to Leave Town

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli airstrike killed two people in the southern village of Touline on Friday 25 April 2026.

Hezbollah shot down an Israeli drone, the group and the Israeli military said. Hezbollah identified it as a Hermes 450 and said it had downed it with a surface-to-air missile.

An Israeli drone was heard circling above Beirut throughout the day on Friday, Reuters reporters said. 

The Israeli military warned residents of the southern town of Deir Aames to leave their homes immediately, saying it planned to act against "Hezbollah activities" there.

Deir Aames is located north of the area occupied by Israeli forces, and it was the first time Israel had issued such a warning since the ceasefire came into force on Thursday 16 April 2026. Posted on social media, the Israeli warning gave no details of the activities it said Hezbollah was conducting in the town.

The Israeli military also said it had intercepted a drone prior to its crossing into Israeli territory and that sirens were sounded in line with protocol.

War-Weary Residents Seek End to Fighting

The continued fighting has angered war-weary Lebanese, who say they want to see a genuine ceasefire put a full halt to violence. 

"What's this? Is this called a ceasefire? Or is this mocking (people's) intelligence?" said Naem Saleh, a 73-year-old owner of a newsstand in Beirut. 

Residents of northern Israel had mostly returned to daily life, but expressed pessimism about the longevity of the ceasefire with Lebanon.

“I believe that the ceasefire is so fragile and unfortunately it won’t stand long, in my opinion,” said Eliad Eini, a resident of Nahariya, which lies just 10 kilometres from the border with Lebanon. 

On Wednesday 22 April 2026, Israeli strikes killed at least five people in the south, including a journalist. 

Israel's Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter, in his opening remarks at Thursday's 23 April 2026 talks, said "Lebanon should acknowledge the temporary presence of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and the right of Israel to defend itself from a hostile force that is firing on the population".

Lebanon's Ambassador to the United States Nada Moawad, in a written statement sent to Reuters, called for the ceasefire to be fully respected and said it would allow the necessary conditions for meaningful negotiations. 

Lebanon has said it aims to secure the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from its territory in broader talks with Israel at a later stage.

Trump said on Thursday 23 April 2026 that he looked forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the near future, and said there was "a great chance" the two countries would reach a peace agreement this year.

Hezbollah attacks killed two civilians in Israel after 2 March, while fifteen Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since then, Israel says.