ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Hezbollah on Sunday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that the group was “dismantling the ceasefire,” asserting its attacks constitute a “legitimate response” to Israeli violations.

Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that Hezbollah’s ceasefire violations “are, in practice, dismantling the ceasefire,” Israeli media reported. He further pledged to “vigorously” target the group in response.

Hours later, Hezbollah said in a statement that the Israeli side has violated the agreement more than 500 times, killing and wounding dozens.

It further argued that the targeting of Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon and northern Israel is “a legitimate response to the enemy's persistent violations of the ceasefire since the first day of the temporary truce.”

Lebanon and Israel on Thursday agreed to extend their ongoing ceasefire by three weeks after the ambassadors of both countries met with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

Hezbollah official Ali Fayad said on Friday that “extending the ceasefire makes no sense" in light of continued "hostile acts" by Israel, asserting they gave "the resistance the right to respond at the appropriate time."

“The extension of the truce for additional weeks was supposed to bring about a genuine ceasefire,” the pro-Iran group said. “However, instead, it escalated its aggression and attacks, confirming its criminal nature, treachery, and contempt for all international laws and conventions.”

Despite the ceasefire in place, which aims to halt all military activity, the two sides have continued to target each other’s positions, with both trading blame for ceasefire violations.

Hezbollah said on Sunday it conducted three drone attacks on Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon, in the towns of Bayyada and Taybeh, claiming it inflicted casualties, with no further details reported. Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on Saturday killed four people in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon, according to state media.

The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health announced on Sunday that the death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanese territory has reached 2,509, with more than 7,700 injured since March 2.