Cheif Nasrallah agreed to ceasefire with Netanyahu before his killing: Lebanon minister

Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib stated that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah had reached an agreement for a 21-day ceasefire with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just days before his death in an Israeli airstrike last week. This ceasefire was pushed by President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron during discussions at the UN General Assembly, as tensions escalated in the region following Hezbollah's claims that Israel had sabotaged their communication devices.

Bou Habib explained that the ceasefire was thoroughly discussed with key Lebanese officials, including the Lebanese House Speaker, Nabih Berri, who consulted directly with Hezbollah. The agreement was communicated to American and French representatives, who confirmed that Netanyahu was also on board with the ceasefire initiative. However, just a day after the agreement was announced, Netanyahu publicly rejected the ceasefire proposal, instructing Israeli forces to intensify military actions against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.

Tragically, Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike on September 27, targeting his headquarters in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, a known stronghold of Hezbollah. While the official Hezbollah statement did not detail the circumstances of his death, reports indicated that he died from blunt force trauma due to the force of the blast rather than from direct wounds. His killing has sparked outrage and further escalated the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had reportedly warned Nasrallah to flee Lebanon just days before the airstrike. Citing intelligence reports suggesting that Israel had infiltrated Hezbollah and was plotting an assassination, Khamenei sent a senior Revolutionary Guards commander to deliver this urgent message. Ironically, this commander, Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan, was also killed in the strike that claimed Nasrallah’s life. Following Nasrallah's death, Israel initiated a limited ground offensive in southern Lebanon, marking an escalation in the already tense situation