Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Wednesday it had achieved “victory” over Israel and that its fighters were at the ready, in its first statement since a truce between the two sides took effect.
“Victory from God almighty was the ally of the righteous cause,” the statement from the Iran-backed group said.
The statement went on to say that Hezbollah fighters “will remain in total readiness to deal with the Israeli enemy’s ambitions and its attacks” without specifically referring to the truce or its conditions.
After the Iran-backed organisation started more than a year of cross-border gunfire over the Gaza war, Israel launched a bombing campaign on September 23 against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon and then moved in ground soldiers.
During the fight, Israel killed key officials and long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah, among other severe blows to Hezbollah.
The Hezbollah statement said Israeli forces failed in their “attempts… to occupy and set up in any of the towns”, to prevent Hezbollah’s cross-border attacks or to “establish a military and security buffer zone as the enemy had hoped”.
It said Hezbollah fighters targeted Israel “until the last day of the aggression”.
The truce deal requires Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border with Israel, and dismantle its military infrastructure in south Lebanon.
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