Beirut, Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Saturday rejected a U.S.-brokered security agreement between Lebanon and Israel a day after it was signed, calling it a surrender to Israel. The announcement came as Israel launched a drone strike in southern Lebanon, underscoring continued hostilities despite repeated ceasefires and agreements.
Hezbollah rejects agreement
In a statement, Qassem described the agreement as “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”.
Qassem said Hezbollah would continue its armed resistance. “We did not leave the battlefield in the most difficult circumstances, and we will not leave it,” he said.
Terms of the framework
The framework agreed on Friday provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal from some parts of southern Lebanon, alongside the deployment of the Lebanese army.
Under the agreement, Israeli forces would be permitted to remain in an expanded security zone for the time being, pending further implementation.
Strike in southern Lebanon
Lebanon’s state news agency said an Israeli drone struck Nabatieh al-Fawqa on Saturday. The area is outside the security zone shown on a map published by Israel of the territory its troops will continue to control.
The Israeli military told Reuters it had carried out the strike, using a drone because it had no troops in the immediate area. It said it targeted an individual who posed a threat to its forces, without giving further details or evidence.
Wider conflict context
More than a million Lebanese have been driven from their homes by a conflict that has run in parallel with the wider Iran war.
Hezbollah and Iran say Washington pledged to end hostilities in Lebanon as part of its memorandum of understanding signed two weeks ago to end the wider war.
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.
