Nasrallah, Netanyahu agreed to ceasefire before Hezbollah chief's death? Lebanese minister's SHOCKING claim

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to a ceasefire deal shortly before the former was assassinated in an airstrike, Lebanon Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habibhas claimed in an interview with PBS.

Habibsaid after the two leaders had reached the ceasefire decision, it was conveyed to the US and French representatives as well.

"He (Nasrallah) agreed, he agreed (to the ceasefire),"Habib said.

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"The Lebanese House Speaker, Mr Nabih Berri, consulted with Hezbollah and we informed the Americans and the French about the agreement. They told us that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu also agreed to the statement issued by both presidents," he added.

Notably, the Israeli allies had called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire along the border with Lebanon a couple of days before Nasrallah's death, according to media reports. The proposed pause, however, was not accepted by Netanyahu who ordered his troops to continue fighting.

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Nasrallah killed

Last month (Sep 28),the Israeli military said Nasrallah was eliminated during the airstrikes which targeted the suburbs of Beirut.

The militant outfit also confirmed the death of its leader later in the day, which effectively meant that the entire chain of command of Hezbollah had been neutralised in the span of less than two weeks.

Nasrallah hadled the Lebanon-based militant group for the last three decades. Under his tenure, Hezbollah became part of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the Axis of Resistance.

Netanyahu revealed that he had issued the order to neutralise Nasrallah, as Hezbollah would have regenerated if he was allowed to live.

"He would have quickly rehabilitated Hezbollah’s capabilities. So I gave the order and Nasrallah is no longer with us," said Netanyahu.

However, Hezbollah retaliated with its backer, Iran, launching over 180 ballistic missiles on Israel's major citiesas well as the Nevatim airbase in the Negev desert and the headquarters of the Mossad spy agency near Tel Aviv, earlier this week.

Additionally, the Israeli military suffered its deadline day in a year when eight soldiers lost their lives during the ground raid against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday.

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(With inputs from agencies)