Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem congratulated Palestinians on Saturday for the Gaza ceasefire deal, saying it proved the “persistence of resistance” against Israel in his first comments since Israel and Hamas reached the accord on Wednesday.

“This deal, which was unchanged from what was proposed in May 2024, proves the persistence of resistance groups, which took what they wanted while Israel was not able to take what it sought,” the leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group said in a speech.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in a conflict parallel to the Gaza war in November.