Lebanon ceasefire not working because free rein given to Israel, says deputy prime minister Tarek Mitri

Lebanon's deputy prime minister says the ceasefire in his country is not holding because the United States has effectively given Israel free rein to launch bombing raids "whenever they deem necessary".

In an interview with the ABC from Beirut, Tarek Mitri insisted the Lebanese government only learnt of a key concession in the ceasefire agreement after it was announced by US President Donald Trump earlier this month.

"There was simply a meeting between two ambassadors at the White House, preceded by another meeting at the State Department," Dr Mitri told the ABC.

"That's all Lebanon has been informed of.

"It's only later that we found out there was this text issued by the State Department which speaks about the inherent right of Israel to defend itself."

The text Dr Mitri referred to was released shortly after Mr Trump's announcement of an initial 10-day ceasefire, which has since been extended by another three weeks, and laid out what Israel could and could not do.

"Israel shall preserve its right to take all necessary measures in self-defense, at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks," the document on the State Department's website read.

"This shall not be impeded by the cessation of hostilities.

"Besides this, it will not carry out any offensive military operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military, and other state targets, in the territory of Lebanon by land, air, and sea."

Israel has since continued to bombard parts of southern and eastern Lebanon, which it claims Hezbollah uses to pose a threat to communities in northern Israel.

The Iranian-backed militant group has fired back, with its leadership insisting it would not walk away from resisting Israeli occupation or aggression in southern Lebanon and beyond.

Lebanon favours truce

Dr Mitri argued that concession was what Israel was relying on, as it continued its strikes on claimed Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

"I think that gives them a pretext to continue whenever they deem necessary, which is what they're doing," he said.

"The distinction between defensive military operations and offensive military operations in the case of Israel is never clear.

In an interview with Fox News, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the situation as a "very unique ceasefire, because Lebanon and Israel are not at war".

"They have no problem with one another," he argued. "Israel has no territorial claims on Lebanon.

"The problem Israel has is not with Lebanon; it's with Hezbollah inside of Lebanon."

Despite his concerns about how the ceasefire was working, or indeed not working, Dr Mitri was keen to stress Lebanon was in favour of a truce.

But he insisted it had not been imposed on his country by the US, even as there was pressure from Tehran during negotiations on a deal to end the broader Middle East war.

"The Iranians had insisted that a ceasefire in Lebanon should be part of the deal, and we, the Lebanese, said there should be a ceasefire in Lebanon, but it's Lebanon that should negotiate a ceasefire because Lebanon negotiates on behalf of Lebanon," he said.

"We're not asking Iran to negotiate on our behalf.

Israeli strikes 'not a surgical operation'

The latest conflict erupted when Hezbollah opened fire on Israel in early March in solidarity with its Iranian backers, days after the US and Israel launched their war on the regime in Tehran.

In the period since, Lebanese health officials say more than 2,500 people have been killed in Israeli strikes. And despite the repeated insistence from the Israeli military that it does not target civilians, hundreds of women, children and the elderly have been killed.

On a single day in early April, more than 300 people were killed when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attacked 100 different sites in the space of just 10 minutes.

They included densely packed residential neighbourhoods in central Beirut, which were hit without any warning.

Israel said it had killed 350 Hezbollah terrorists in the operation, but only released details of a small number of those it claimed to have targeted.

Beirut hospitals were overrun with the dead and injured, including many children suffering serious injuries.

Israel also continues to occupy territory of up to 10 kilometres beyond its border, which it seized during its invasion of the country, after previously announcing its intention to occupy the entire area south of the Litani River.

Government not seeking 'end game'

In recent days, the IDF has released details of what it said were attacks on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and rocket launchers.

Tunnel networks, the IDF and the Israeli Prime Minister said, were also struck.

"We're destroying their terror infrastructure, we're killing dozens upon dozens of terrorists — and there's more to come," Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media on Tuesday night.

At the same time, Israel had been condemned for strikes which have killed civilians, journalists and emergency workers such as paramedics despite the IDF insisting it does not target them.

In some instances, the IDF has accused Hezbollah of using ambulances and pretending to be paramedics.

Hezbollah had fired a number of drones towards Israeli forces operating in southern Israel and towards communities on the Israeli side of the border, prompting warning sirens to ring out across northern Israel.

One drone attack hit a group of Israeli soldiers trying to evacuate wounded troops on Sunday.

Hezbollah has insisted it would continue to attack Israeli forces while it launched strikes on Lebanon and occupied land.

The militant group, considered a terrorist organisation under Australian law, has been highly critical of talks between the Lebanese and Israeli governments in recent weeks — negotiations it is not a party to.

At the same time, it had welcomed the ceasefire as a result of what it said was pressure from Iran on the United States, during negotiations on ending the broader Middle East war.

"Hezbollah are upset with the direct negotiations altogether," Dr Mitri said.

"They're not opposed to the principle of negotiations, they would have preferred to see indirect negotiations rather than a face-to-face negotiation with the Israelis — this is one of the problems."

He suggested the other concern was that people in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, were pre-judging the goal of negotiations between the Lebanese state and the Netanyahu government.

"The country is divided on this, and the government hasn't said anything about the endgame.

"All the government has said is that we will get into direct negotiations, and any negotiation should start by a total ceasefire, which has not happened yet.

"And that there are a number of issues on which Lebanon is unequivocal, that is to demand the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory, to give back Israeli prisoners and all the rest."

Lebanon 'not at all powerful' to disarm Hezbollah

The Lebanese government has been criticised for failing to curb Hezbollah's influence and power, particularly after a 2024 ceasefire between Israel and the militant group.

That deal included demands for Hezbollah to withdraw from the area south of the Litani River, and for the Lebanese Army to move in and help to disarm the group.

That did not happen. Neither did the requirement for Israeli forces to completely withdraw from Lebanese territory.

Israel was also accused of near-daily breaches of the ceasefire, launching strikes in the area as it perceived threats from Hezbollah.

"The Israelis, of course, have always voiced this criticism. So do the Americans, so do many Lebanese, they criticise the government for its weakness," Dr Mitri said.

"Now, the government doesn't claim strength that it doesn't have.

"We're not at all powerful to the extent of being able to demobilise, demilitarise Hezbollah in weeks or months — Lebanon is a divided country."

Dr Mitri described Hezbollah as a "very well organised and very well armed seasoned combatant organisation".

"We admit that we were slow [in acting] for a number of reasons. The most important ones had to do with the army that had limited means and didn't get the support that the whole world promised to give," he said.

"The other is that Israel had not complied with the agreement on cessation of hostilities that was brokered by the Americans and the French in November of 2024.

"How would you have the Lebanese army progress in extending the authority of the state over Lebanon's territory while there are Israeli planes continuing their so-called targeted air strikes over Lebanon?"