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Hezbollah chief: Lebanon-Israel deal ‘null and void’ for legalizing occupation
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem condemned the US-Israel-Lebanon framework agreement on Saturday, saying it is a major mistake by the government and that his group deems it 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," Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a statement.
Qassem called on the government to withdraw from "its sins that are ruining Lebanon".
He accused Lebanese authorities of committing a "grave blunder" and "legitimizing the continuation of the (Israeli) occupation for many years," which "may even lead to the annexation of these lands".
Hezbollah strongly rejects 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.
Iran insists that any deal to end the broader war must include Lebanon.
Sheikh Qassem explained that the Islamabad memorandum of understanding was intended to guarantee Lebanon’s security and sovereignty through a complete Israeli withdrawal within 60 days.
He described this provision as “a winning card in Lebanon's hands” that the government had never dreamed of possessing.
The Hezbollah leader also said that negotiations between the Lebanese government and the Israeli regime was a form of "gratuitous concession" to the Israeli regime and "a stab in the back of the resistance" in Lebanon.
He said that linking the withdrawal of the Israeli regime from occupied Lebanese territories to the disarmament of Hezbollah, as has been stipulated in the Washington agreement, is a "dangerous scheme that turns Lebanon into a toy in the hands of the enemy".
Sheikh Qassem said Hezbollah will continue to fight the Israeli regime and its occupation of southern Lebanon until the aggressors are expelled from the Arab country.
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".