JERUSALEM – Hezbollah’s leader on Saturday pilloried the Israel-Lebanon framework agreement signed in Washington as “null and void” and a surrender of Lebanon’s sovereignty, with the group’s top ally in Beirut’s parliament going as far as calling it an “incitement to civil war.”
The deal Beirut and Jerusalem signed Friday, the result of five rounds of talks in the US capital, is intended to pave the way for an eventual peace agreement. It includes a pilot effort in which Lebanese soldiers will take control of some areas held by Israeli troops, as well as a process aimed at disarming Hezbollah.
Rejecting the agreement, the group’s chief Naim Qassem called it a “humiliation” and and said it should be replaced by the Iran-US memorandum of understanding, which was signed the week before in Switzerland, and which linked the ceasefire in Lebanon with the truce between Iran and the US — a move that greatly concerned Israel.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday hailed the US-brokered agreement with Lebanon, calling it a historic achievement that dealt a blow to arch-foes Iran and Hezbollah.
“Yesterday … we achieved a historic deal for the state of Israel after direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in a televised briefing.
“This is a blow to Iran and Hezbollah.”
Meanwhile, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir denounced the agreement saying the Lebanese government could not be trusted to disarm Hezbollah.
“The agreement with Lebanon is a big mistake… Indeed, we are staying in most of the territory for now, but the state of Lebanon will not disarm Hezbollah,” he said on his Telegram channel.
In a statement, Qassem said that any attempt to link Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon to the group’s disarmament crossed “red lines.”
He further accused Lebanese authorities of “legitimizing” Israeli occupation through this “grave blunder,” which temporarily leaves much of southern Lebanon in Israeli military control, until the areas are verified to be cleared of Hezbollah and its infrastructure and handed over to the Lebanese military.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, called the deal signed with Israel “incitement to civil war,” and warned against its implementation.
Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad, who leads the group’s Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc in parliament, said the agreement showed “the Lebanese authority’s complete submission to America and the Zionist enemy.”
Raad added that by facilitating the deal, the US violated its “explicit commitment to Iran regarding its responsibility to pressure Israel to withdraw completely from Lebanon and respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Additionally, Hezbollah’s Lawyers’ Association said the deal, which states that Israel and Lebanon “affirm the right of each state to exist in peace,” was a violation of Lebanon’s constitution, which they said “considers Zionism to be a challenge to human dignity” and states “that it is necessary to work to eliminate it.”
The legal union added that the terms allowing Israeli troops to maintain temporary control of Lebanese territory “constitutes a coup against the constitutional obligations related to preserving the independence of the homeland and the integrity of its territories.
“We warn the Lebanese authorities against this dangerous and unprecedented violation of the constitution,” the group said, calling on Beirut “to immediately reverse this decision, stop direct negotiations, and adhere to the option of resistance as a natural, constitutional, and law-based option for protecting and liberating the land.”
Israel, Lebanon and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for an eventual peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries.
The agreement — which includes a pilot effort in which Lebanese soldiers take control of some small areas currently held by Israeli troops, as well as a process aimed at disarming the Hezbollah group — is the result of five rounds of talks in the US capital.
The deal “begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the signing ceremony, noting: “It’s the beginning of the beginning. There’s a lot of work ahead.”
Israel, Lebanon and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for an eventual peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries.
The agreement — which includes a pilot effort in which Lebanese soldiers take control of some small areas currently held by Israeli troops, as well as a process aimed at disarming the Hezbollah group — is the result of five rounds of talks in the US capital.
The deal “begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at the signing ceremony, noting: “It’s the beginning of the beginning. There’s a lot of work ahead.”
