Hezbollah chief calls US-Israel-Lebanon deal ‘grave blunder’, deems it null and void

BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader 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,” Qassem said in a statement, referring to the deal to end the broader Middle East war, which includes a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Lebanon was drawn into the regional war on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel to avenge 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 occupy swathes of territory and have been carrying out extensive demolitions of homes and other buildings.

Qassem called on the government to withdraw from “its sins that are ruining Lebanon”.

He accused Lebanese authorities of committing a “grave blunder” and “legitimising 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, while the Lebanese government has repeatedly tried to separate itself from this track.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun considered the agreement “a first step” to restoring his country’s sovereignty.

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 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”.