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.
“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 Litani River 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. You are going to these meetings in hostility and disagreement with more than half of the Lebanese people, and in violation of the constitution and laws that consider the Israeli entity an enemy and hold accountable, legally, anyone who deals with it in word or deed. You have no leverage to fight with because you willingly abandoned the power of the resistance and the people, and you stabbed the resistance in the back by declaring it an outlaw in the heart of the war, from the very first moment,” he stated.
“Where is the integrity of the Lebanese authorities and their responsibility towards their people and the protection of Lebanon’s sovereignty, which the American guardian did not grant them a ceasefire, and when it came to them from the Pakistan talks between America and Iran in April 2026, they rejected it, which made the Israeli enemy commit the crime of Black Wednesday in which hundreds were killed and wounded, people were terrorized, and destruction was caused by one hundred air raids across Lebanon, starting from the capital, Beirut?” he asked.
He further expressed deep alarm over the agreement’s mechanisms, particularly the provision for a pilot program in two zones near the “Yellow Line,” where the Lebanese Army would operate under Israeli monitoring. Qassem warned that this effectively legitimises a long-term occupation.
“What is this appalling blunder? What is this grave sin of surrendering sovereignty to the Israeli enemy? Netanyahu is allowing the Lebanese army to operate in two experimental zones! The enemy is monitoring its deployment and disarmament steps, and the tripartite committee is complying with the enemy’s demands. The experimental period in these two zones could last for months, and no further experimentation will occur without a certificate of good conduct from the Israeli enemy and the implementation of what Israel failed to achieve on the ground!” he questioned.
Qassem signalled that Hezbollah intends to continue its operations, claiming that the current ceasefire does not diminish its right to defend the country.
“We will pursue all necessary means and exert international and Arab pressure to compel the Israeli enemy to abide by the first clause of the Memorandum of Understanding and withdraw from Lebanon,” Qassem declared.
