Hezbollah’s leader on Saturday pilloried the Israel-Lebanon framework agreement signed in Washington as “null and void” and a surrender of Lebanon’s sovereignty, with the terror group’s top ally in Beirut’s parliament going as far as calling it an “incitement to civil war.” The deal Beirut and Jerusalem signed Friday, the result of five rounds of talks in the US capital, is intended to pave the way for an eventual peace agreement. It includes a pilot effort in which Lebanese soldiers will take control of some areas held by Israeli troops, as well as a process aimed at disarming Hezbollah.
Rejecting the agreement, the terror group’s chief Naim Qassem called it a “humiliation” and said it should be replaced by the Iran-US memorandum of understanding, which was signed the week before in Switzerland, and which linked the ceasefire in Lebanon with the truce between Iran and the US — a move that greatly concerned Israel. In a statement, Qassem said that any attempt to link Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon to the terror group’s disarmament crossed “red lines.” He further accused Lebanese authorities of “legitimizing” Israeli occupation through this “grave blunder,” which temporarily leaves much of southern Lebanon in Israeli military control, until the areas are verified to be cleared of Hezbollah and its infrastructure and handed over to the Lebanese military.
Channel 12 and Ynet reported that Israel was bracing for the possibility that Hezbollah will launch attacks on IDF forces or Israeli communities in the coming days in an attempt to undermine the newly signed framework deal. A defense official told Channel 12 that Israel was prepared for such an eventuality, and warned of “a severe and significant response” to any Hezbollah attack. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, called the deal signed with Israel “incitement to civil war,” and warned against its implementation. (Read More)
