Hezbollah chief rejects US-Israel-Lebanon deal

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem condemned the US-Israel-Lebanon framework agreement on Saturday, accusing the government of surrendering Lebanese sovereignty and declaring the agreement null and void.

The agreement — which includes a pilot effort in which Lebanese soldiers take control of two areas currently occupied by Israel, as well as a process aimed at disarming Hezbollah — was signed in Washington on Friday after five rounds of talks.

“The framework agreement in Washington is humiliating, shameful, and a surrender of sovereignty. This agreement is null and void, and the provisions of the Iranian-American memorandum of understanding must be implemented,” Qassem said, referring to the deal to end the broader Middle East war, which provides for a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Lebanon was drawn into the regional war on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel responded with heavy airstrikes and an invasion of southern Lebanon, where its troops occupy swathes of territory and have been carrying out extensive demolitions of homes and other buildings.

Qassem accused Lebanese authorities of committing a “grave blunder” and “legitimising the continuation of the (Israeli) occupation for many years,” which “may even lead to the annexation of these lands”.

Hezbollah supporters took to the streets of Beirut on Friday night to protest the framework.

In western Beirut’s Hamra street, 48-year-old Ahmad Shamas told AFP on Saturday that “the agreement reached is a humiliating and shameful one”.

Another local, Husam Beiruiti, 43, wasn’t ready to write the agreement off, as he saw no other solution.

“I don’t think it will stop the Israeli aggression. They say it will happen in the future. Let’s wait and see what this agreement achieves,” he added.

‘Critical step’

Hezbollah has rejected the direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, which have been ongoing since April.

An April 17 ceasefire failed to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, but the violence has decreased since the US and Iran reached a memorandum of understanding last week.

The Israeli military said Saturday that it had targeted “suspected terrorists” who posed a threat to its soldiers in southern Lebanon, and Lebanese state media reported a drone strike on Nabatieh al-Fawqa.

Iran insists any deal to end the broader war must include Lebanon, while the Lebanese government has repeatedly tried to separate the conflicts.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun deemed the agreement “a first step” towards restoring his country’s sovereignty.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the framework as a “critical step away from escalation”.

According to the text of the deal shared by the US State Department, Lebanon and Israel, officially at war for decades, expressed their intent to “conclusively end the conflict, address its underlying causes, and to therewith formally conclude any state of war between them”.

The agreement sets up a process during which Lebanon’s military is due to “restore effective sovereign authority over all Lebanese territory, pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups”.

Shortly after the deal was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his forces will remain in occupied Lebanese territory “as long as Hezbollah has not disarmed”.