Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has delivered a speech at a Central Ashura Council ceremony in Beirut’s southern suburbs, hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was reported to have taken effect, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking at the Sayyed al-Shuhada complex in Dahiyeh, Qassem says Hezbollah remains committed to the principles of resistance and the liberation of occupied land, while maintaining that the group has operated within the framework of Lebanon’s constitution and the Taif Agreement.

He adds that Hezbollah rejects foreign domination, occupation and political dependency, and frames the group’s actions as part of a broader struggle against what it sees as injustice and external interference.

According to Qassem: “Every step in which we reject occupation counts as a victory for us, adding that when the enemy confronts us with weapons, we confront it with weapons.”