Hezbollah chief again rejects Lebanon-Israel deal, refuses ‘surrender’

Beirut - Hezbollah's chief, Naim Qassem, once again rejected a recent deal between Israel and Lebanon, rejecting surrender and the framework agreement. Qassem stated his group opposes the framework deal and calls for its collapse. He made these remarks in a televised address on the group's Al-Manar television channel. In late June, Lebanon and Israel signed a framework deal that called for Hezbollah's disarmament, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region.

However, Qassem vehemently rejected the pilot zones and any proposed verification system. The source of a recent shortlist of countries potentially overseeing the pilot zone process, proposed by Lebanon, has not been announced yet. Although violence has decreased since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the conflict in June and the Israel-Lebanon framework agreement in July, Lebanon continues to experience regular Israeli airstrikes, artillery shelling, and demolitions of civilian buildings in southern areas.

Israeli forces operate within a declared security zone that stretches around 10km into Lebanese territory along the border. Qassem's group remains committed to the November 2024 ceasefire, vowing not to surrender.