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<div class="gmail-inner-article-top"><h1 class="gmail-">Hezbollah warns \u2018no options left but resistance\u2019 after deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon</h1><p class="gmail-">A
Hezbollah official said that Israel \u2018only understands the language of
force,\u2019 while calling on the Lebanese government to freeze participation
in the US-backed \u2018ceasefire\u2019 committee
</p><div class="gmail-another-name"><p><a href="https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9" style="color:rgb(164,4,4)">News Desk</a></p></div><div class="gmail-another-name" style="margin-top:16px"><p><span style="color:rgb(84,88,94)">FEB 22, 2026 - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/hezbollah-warns-no-options-left-but-resistance-after-deadly-israeli-strikes-on-lebanon">https://thecradle.co/articles/hezbollah-warns-no-options-left-but-resistance-after-deadly-israeli-strikes-on-lebanon</a></font></p></div></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-img"><img src="https://thecradle-main.oss-eu-central-1.aliyuncs.com/public/articles/b5ee7038-0fdd-11f1-9c47-00163e02c055.webp" alt="" width="408" height="230" style="margin-right: 0px;"><span>(Photo credit: AFP via Getty Images)</span></div><div class="gmail-inner-article-content"><div class="gmail-row"><div class="gmail-col-md-8 gmail-col-sm-7"><div class="gmail-article-content"><span class="gmail-article-body"><p>Hezbollah <a href="https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2026/02/21/hezbollah-vows-resistance-after-deadly-israeli-strike-">said </a>on
21 February that the Lebanese people \u201cno longer have any option\u201d other
than resistance, after a series of violent and deadly Israeli attacks
against the country\u2019s east and south.</p><p>Deputy chief of Hezbollah\u2019s
Political Council Mahmoud Qamati said \u201cWhat happened yesterday in the
Bekaa is a new massacre and a new aggression.\u201d</p><p>\u201cWhat option do we
have left to defend ourselves and our country? What other option do we
have besides resistance? We no longer have any option,\u201d he added. </p><p>Another official, Hezbollah MP Rami Abu Hamdan, said mere government condemnation were no longer acceptable.</p><p>He
stressed that the \u201cZionist brutality\u201d is \u201cnothing new,\u201d but argued that
\u201ccondemnations and statements of denunciation are no longer
sufficient,\u201d adding that Lebanese blood is \u201cnot cheap.\u201d</p><p>Abu Hamdan
called for a radical change in how the state defends the country,
rejecting the normalization of daily attacks on Lebanon.</p><p>He added
that the government should not act as a mere political commentator,
describing Israeli strikes as routine events preceding meetings of the
ceasefire \u201cmechanism\u201d committee. At a minimum, he said, Lebanon should
freeze its participation in the committee until Israel halts its
violations, calling this a test of the committee and its sponsors.</p><p>He said his message was directed at Lebanese officials, and not Israel, which \u201conly understands the language of force.\u201d</p><p>Israeli warplanes carried out<a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/deadly-israeli-strikes-in-lebanon-leave-dozens-of-civilian-casualties"> violent airstrikes</a> on Lebanon\u2019s eastern Bekaa region on Friday night, killing at least ten, including Hezbollah members and civilians. </p><p>The
Lebanese resistance confirmed the deaths of eight of its members,
including a senior official. It said they \u201csacrificed themselves for
Lebanon and its people.\u201d</p><span></span><p>At least 24 others were wounded, including children. A Syrian man and an Ethiopian woman were among the dead.</p><p>Tel Aviv claimed it attacked members of Hezbollah\u2019s missile unit. </p><p>The
Israeli army said it \u201celiminated a large number of terrorists belonging
to the missile array of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, in three
different headquarters of the organization.\u201d</p><span></span><p>The
strikes hit residential areas, causing widespread destruction. Just
hours earlier, at least two people were killed in an Israeli strike on
the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in south Lebanon's Sidon (Saida). </p><p>The next meeting of the US-led \u2018ceasefire monitoring mechanism\u2019 is scheduled for Wednesday, 25 February. </p><p>The
committee is made up of Lebanon, the US, France, UNIFIL, and Israel.
While Lebanese-Israeli dealings via the mechanism were previously
indirect, the latest committee meetings saw Lebanese and Israeli
officials meet <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/lebanese-israeli-officials-hold-second-direct-meeting">directly</a> \u2013 under heavy US pressure and in violation of the country\u2019s laws. </p><p>Beirut is being pressured by Washington, at the behest of Israel, to fully disarm Hezbollah. </p><p>The
group has largely been disarmed south of the Litani River, after the
government began implementing Resolution 1701 at the start of 2025, as
part of the November 2024 ceasefire that Israel has refused to abide by.</p><p>Beirut
announced in early 2026 that phase one of disarming the group had been
completed, south of the river. Israel described the army's efforts as
\u201cfar from sufficient.\u201d</p><p>Phase two requires the group to surrender
its arms north of the Litani River, and then eventually across the
entirety of Lebanon. </p><p>Hezbollah has rejected this. The movement
says it will eventually be willing to discuss a national defensive
strategy that could incorporate its weapons into the state and be
available for use to protect the country. </p><p>Yet it refuses to enter
into any such talks until Israel ends its daily attacks and withdraws
the troops that occupied several areas along the border during the
ceasefire. Over 300 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in
Lebanon since the 2024 truce, and at least two dozen Lebanese citizens
are held in Israeli prisons. </p><p>Israel has repeatedly threatened to resume full-scale war against the entirety of Lebanon unless <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles/no-compromise-hezbollah-slams-beiruts-decision-on-phase-two-of-disarmament">Hezbollah</a> is disarmed. </p><p>According to a recent Saudi media <a href="https://thecradle.co/articles-id/36085">report</a>,
Israel is planning \u201cmassive and unprecedented\u201d attacks on resistance
groups backed by Iran, in the event that these groups aid the Islamic
Republic during a potential US war.</p><p>This includes Hezbollah, Yemen\u2019s Ansarallah, and Iraqi resistance factions. </p></span></div></div></div></div>
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