The Iranian Foreign Ministry celebrated a ceasefire that came into effect in the early hours of Wednesday between the government of Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah, vowing to continue supporting the jihadists.
A senior official within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), itself a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, claimed Hezbollah agreeing to a ceasefire after the loss of its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah and several top leaders was somehow a “major victory” for the group and a “humiliating defeat” for Israel.
Israel has been at war with the Iranian proxy terror organization Hamas since October 8, 2023, the day after Hamas terrorists invaded the country and engaged in rampant human rights atrocities including infanticide, gang rape, and torture. Hamas is believed to be keeping about 100 Israeli hostages in captivity at press time out of the more than 200 abducted on October 7.
Hezbollah, a Shiite terrorist group headquartered in Lebanon, began bombing Israel shortly after the October 7 attack in solidarity with their fellow Iran-backed terrorists. Hezbollah’s actions resulted in the evacuation of tens of thousands of Israelis from the north of the country and prompted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to engage in self-defense operations throughout Lebanon. As Hezbollah leaders, like Hamas, often use civilian areas to hide terrorist artillery and infrastructure, the IDF was forced to strike against Hezbollah targets in Beirut and other urban areas. The operations eliminated Nasrallah, one of the world’s most influential jihadist leaders, and a significant percentage of the Hezbollah leadership under Nasrallah, complicating the terrorist group’s operations and leaving it struggling to replace its leaders.
In this context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a ceasefire with Hezbollah on Tuesday that he emphasized he would immediately end if Hezbollah attacks again.
“The length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon,” Netanyahu said. “If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to arm itself, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If it launches a rocket, if it digs a tunnel, if it brings in a truck carrying rockets, we will attack.”
The Israeli leader described a broken-down Hezbollah reduced to what it had been decades ago and said a ceasefire in Lebanon would help Israel “focus on the Iranian threat,” describing Iran as the “head of the octopus.”
According to the Times of Israel, the ceasefire deal will allow for a “60-day transition period” for Lebanon to send its troops into formerly Hezbollah-controlled areas, for Hezbollah to vacate areas in southern Lebanon, and for the IDF to withdraw.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters on Wednesday that his country would continue to offer the “resistance,” by which he meant Hezbollah, “firm support” after the ceasefire.
“The world public opinion had been demanding an end to war and genocide over the past 14 months, and is now looking forward to the prosecution and punishment of the criminals of the occupying regime,” Baghaei asserted, claiming that Iran, the world’s premier state sponsor of terrorism, was working for peace in the region.
Baghaei claimed that Iran held a “longstanding position on the necessity of an immediate halt” to the war in Lebanon and in Gaza, where Hamas is headquartered.
While the Foreign Ministry claimed to support the ceasefire in the interest of peace, Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, an IRGC official, told the Iranian outlet Tasnim that the ceasefire meant Hezbollah “could impose its conditions” on Israel and is thus a “major victory.”
“Although the Zionist regime had been hitting the Lebanese residential areas and people with missiles and bombs, it faced Hezbollah’s precise missiles and drones in response that were being launched in considerable amounts and with precision,” he reportedly said, calling the ceasefire a “humiliating defeat for the Zionist regime [Israel].”
Vahidi indicated that Hezbollah would soon attack again regardless of the ceasefire: “The resistance front [Iran’s terror proxy network] will never be tricked by the Zionist regime and is ready to respond to the Zionist regime if necessary.”
The low-ranking Hezbollah terrorists remaining after the Israeli campaign against the group echoed the sentiment of “victory” on Wednesday.
“We achieved victory today after two months of unwavering jihad, resilience, and determination, thwarting the enemy’s attempts to accomplish any of its objectives,” Mahmoud Komati, a deputy “political” official in Hezbollah said on Wednesday, according to the pro-Hezbollah propaganda outlet Al Manar.
In addition to the Iranian government, its terrorist proxies also attempted to spin the ceasefire as a victory, rather than essentially an admission that Hezbollah does not have the resources to continue the war. Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Sunni jihadist terror group, promised in remarks on Wednesday to stay “united as one front” with Hezbollah and, presumably, Iran.
“I repeat the immortal words of the great martyr on the path to Palestine’s liberation, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah: Defeat is not an option; victory is the only way forward,” Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ziad Nakhala said.
Hamas, meanwhile, signaled that it, too, is open to a ceasefire.
“We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” an anonymous Hamas official told the Agence France-Presse (AFP).