Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem condemned the US-Israel-Lebanon Framework Agreement as a humiliating surrender of sovereignty.
BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Naim Qassim on Saturday condemned the US-Israel-Lebanon Framework Agreement, saying it was a big mistake by the government and that his group considers it invalid.
The agreements – which include a pilot effort in which Lebanese troops take control of two areas currently occupied by Israel, as well as a process aimed at disarming Hezbollah – were signed in Washington on Friday after five rounds of talks.
“The framework agreement in Washington is disgraceful, 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 in a statement, referring to the agreement to end the broader Middle East war.
Lebanon plunged into the regional war on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for 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 have captured large swathes of territory and are carrying out massive demolitions of homes and other buildings.
Qassem called on the government to turn away from “its sins that are ruining Lebanon”.
He accused the Lebanese authorities of making a “serious mistake” and of “legalizing the continuation of the (Israeli) occupation for many years”, which “could even lead to the annexation of these lands”.
Hezbollah has strongly rejected direct talks between Lebanon and Israel that have been underway since April.
An April 17 ceasefire failed to stop fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, but violence has declined since a memorandum of understanding was reached between the US and Iran last week.
Iran insists that any agreement to end the broader war must include Lebanon, while the Lebanese government has repeatedly tried to distance itself from this track.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun considered the agreement a “first step” toward restoring his country’s sovereignty.
According to the text of the agreement shared by the US State Department, Lebanon and Israel, officially at war for decades, expressed their intention to “decisively end the conflict, address its underlying causes, as well as formally end any state of war between them.”
The agreement establishes a process during which the Lebanese Army “must restore effective sovereign authority over all Lebanese territories, pending the verified disarmament of non-state armed groups”.
Shortly after the announcement of the agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his forces would remain in occupied Lebanese territory “until Hezbollah is disarmed”.
