Hezbollah declares Israel-Lebanon deal void
Beirut: Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem has issued a blistering rejection of the newly signed framework agreement between the Lebanese authorities and Israel, formally declaring
Beirut: Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem has issued a blistering rejection of the newly signed framework agreement between the Lebanese authorities and Israel, formally declaring the pact "null and void."In a statement issued following the announcement of the US-mediated deal, Qassem characterised the agreement as a "humiliating" and "shameful" surrender of Lebanese sovereignty that prioritises Israeli and American dictates over the nation's independence.The Hezbollah leader centred his critique on the claim that the agreement bypasses the superior protections offered by a separate Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the US. According to Qassem, the MoU, which he described as a "gift of honour, dignity, and strength," stipulated an immediate, permanent cessation of hostilities, complete Israeli withdrawal and guaranteed Lebanon's territorial integrity.Read More: What challenges lie ahead for the US-Israel-Lebanon agreement?"The authorities are legitimizing the occupation for many years to come, and this could even lead to the annexation of these lands to the Zionist entity! This is an agreement that deprives the Lebanese of their right to return to their land. What business does the Israeli enemy have interfering in our internal affairs in Lebanon? Any agreement must be confined to the area south of the LitRiver and have no connection to any internal Lebanese matter concerning weapons, security, or the future of the country," he stated.Linking an Israeli withdrawal to the disarmament of the resistance throughout Lebanon is a very dangerous proposition that crosses all red lines and makes Lebanon a pawn in the hands of the Israeli enemy!He urged international and Arab pressure to be applied to force the Israeli enemy to adhere to this timeline, dismissing any agreement that links withdrawal to the internal disarmament of the resistance as a dangerous violation of Lebanon's right to self-defence.Qassem further launched a sharp attack on the Lebanese government, accusing officials of acting against the will of a significant portion of the population and violating the constitution by engaging in direct negotiations with what he termed the "Zionist enemy entity."He argued that the authorities possess no leverage in these talks because they "willingly abandoned the power of the resistance" and "stabbed the resistance in the back" through previous government decisions."We told the authorities that direct negotiations are nothing but gratuitous concessions to Israel, because they are meetings designed to force submission to the demands of aggression and the dictates of Israel and the United States.
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