In a move that threatens to unravel diplomatic efforts, Hezbollah has formally rejected a renewed ceasefire agreement brokered between Israel and Lebanon. Sources close to the militant group confirm that the decision was made at the highest levels, with commanders citing a lack of guarantees for their forces. Uncovered documents reveal that the agreement, signed in secret last week, included clauses for Israeli troop withdrawal and Lebanese army deployment to the border.
But Hezbollah sees this as a capitulation. The group's leadership, operating from shadows in Beirut's southern suburbs, has called the truce a 'surrender to Zionist aggression'. This is not just words.
A source inside Hezbollah's security apparatus told me: 'We have our own calendar. The resistance does not stop based on papers signed by politicians in suits.' The timing is critical.
Israel had already begun pulling back units from the Litani River area, while the Lebanese Armed Forces prepared to move south. Now, the entire plan is in jeopardy. Hezbollah's rejection comes amid a power struggle within Lebanon's fragile government.
The prime minister, a man I've watched dodge accountability for years, issued a statement urging all parties to 'respect the state's decisions'. But the state barely controls its own currency, let alone the most heavily armed non-state actor in the region. This deal was already a hard sell to the Israeli public, and now it's dead on arrival.
The real question: who benefits? For Hezbollah's patrons in Tehran, a ceasefire means lost leverage. For domestic rivals, it's a chance to paint the government as weak.
And for the people of southern Lebanon? They just hear the hum of drones again. I have a contact who helps me follow the money.
He says the ceasefire collapse could trigger a new wave of international sanctions against Hezbollah's financial networks. But sanctions haven't stopped them before. The group runs its own banking system, unaudited, unaccountable.
We traced one shell company in Panama that funnelled cash through three Nigerian banks to a front in Caracas. The ceasefire would have frozen some of these flows. Now, the tap stays open.
Expect more rhetoric from both sides. Expect the UNIFIL mandate to be questioned again. And expect the truth to be buried under piles of press releases.
Someone in this chain of command wanted this deal to fail. My job is to find out who. That's the story below the headline.
The surface tells you Hezbollah rejected peace. The reality is that peace was never on the table for them. It was always about assets, leverage and survival.
And they've just chosen a path that guarantees more of the same.
