Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected a U.S.-brokered security agreement between Lebanon and Israel on Saturday a day after it was signed, describing it as a surrender to Israel.
The group says it will continue its armed resistance under instructions from Tehran © Reuters/Mena Today
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected a U.S.-brokered security agreement between Lebanon and Israel on Saturday a day after it was signed, describing it as a surrender to Israel.
The framework agreed on Friday provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal from some parts of southern Lebanon, alongside the deployment of the Lebanese army. But Israeli forces would be permitted to remain in an expanded security zone for the time being, pending further implementation.
In a statement, Qassem called it "null and void", and accused the Lebanese government of making unilateral concessions and undermining Lebanon's sovereignty.
He criticised provisions linking Israel's withdrawal to Hezbollah's disarmament, saying they effectively legitimised Israel's military presence and crossed "all red lines".
The group would continue its armed resistance, he added: "We did not leave the battlefield in the most difficult circumstances, and we will not leave it."
Qassem said the Iran-U.S. memorandum of understanding reached earlier this month, which guarantees Lebanon's territorial integrity, should serve as the basis for ending the conflict, rather than Friday's Washington agreement.
By Jana Choukeir, Eman Abouhassira and Pesha Magid
The framework agreement reached Friday between Lebanon and Israel at the fifth round of Washington negotiations is drawing sharply contrasting reactions across Lebanon's political landscape, with Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel declaring victory and Aounist figure Gebran Bassil sounding notes of caution.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun received a phone call Saturday from UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), in a show of Gulf solidarity following the announcement of the Lebanon-Israel framework agreement in Washington.
Iran said it struck targets linked to U.S. forces on Saturday in response to U.S. airstrikes on its southern coast, as each side continued to accuse the other of violating last week's agreement meant to end the four-month-old war.
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