The secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite movement aligned with Iran, reiterated on Friday that his faction rejects theframework agreement reached by the governments of Lebanon and Israel and that, despite being weakened following two wars with the Israeli army since 2023, it has no intention of surrendering.
“We oppose the framework agreement and call for it to be abandoned,” Naim Kassem emphasized during a speech broadcast last night on Hezbollah’s television network, Al-Manar.
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The agreement, signed on June 26 under U.S. auspices, stipulates that the Lebanese Army will regain control of areas in the southern part of the country — but on the condition that Hezbollah be disarmed, beginning with “pilot zones” from which Israeli troops will withdraw.
“The framework agreement is illegitimate, illegal, and humiliating. It deals a blow to Lebanese national sovereignty and prevents us from regaining our rights,” Mr. Kassem emphasized.
“We do not accept either the pilot zones or the consequences” of their creation, he continued, stressing that the faction “rejects the verification committee,” which has been tasked with overseeing the implementation of the agreement.
During their most recent talks in Rome in early August, the governments of Lebanon and Israel discussed the countries that have expressed an intention to participate in a verification committee, which will monitor the deployment of the Lebanese army, initially in “pilot zones,” and the destruction of Hezbollah’s weapons and infrastructure, a source within the Lebanese presidency told Agence France-Presse.
A new round of negotiations is planned for September, though no date has yet been set.
The Shiite movement is accused of dragging Lebanon into the war in the Middle East firing rockets at Israel on March 2 to avenge the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 28, on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli bombings. The Israeli military responded by launching massive airstrikes and a ground invasion; more than 4,300 people were killed in these operations, according to authorities in Beirut.
Although the violence de-escalated following the initial U.S.-Iran agreement and the subsequent signing of the framework agreement in June, Israeli sporadic bombings have not stopped. They have intensified again in recent days in southern Lebanon, where a woman was killed yesterday, Friday, according to health authorities.
The Israeli army occupies part of southern Lebanon, which it calls a “security zone.”
Although Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for attacks against the Israeli army over the past two months or more, its leader stressed yesterday that “we are holding our heads high and we are not giving up.”
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Source: KYPE
