Hezbollah's Qassem demands Lebanon reverse Israel framework deal

Israeli strikes continue in southern Lebanon despite pilot zone deployment

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem used a Friday address to denounce Lebanese officials for accepting the June 26 framework agreement with Israel, accusing them of surrendering sovereignty through seven rounds of direct negotiations. The speech, carried by the Hezbollah-run Al Manar TV channel, continued Hezbollah’s public criticism of the diplomatic track pursued by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.

Qassem called for an end to “the humiliation” and urged the officials to reverse “the sinful mistake,” according to UPI’s Beirut dateline. He also called for “reversing the sinful, disgraceful and humiliating mistake,” which raises question marks about “what these officials are doing.”

Qassem asked Lebanese officials to “name a single achievement from the seven rounds of negotiations,” asserting that Israel “got everything it wanted and everything it sought.” He accused the officials of failing to withdraw from the talks, saying that what is happening “amounts to surrender, which we do not accept.”

The framework agreement was reached on June 26 under U.S. pressure and provides for a phased Israeli withdrawal from occupied parts of southern Lebanon to allow the Lebanese Army to “restore effective sovereign authority,” beginning with deployment in two initial pilot zones. The accord also addressed plans to disarm Hezbollah, described by UPI as “Iran’s main proxy and once its most powerful regional non-state armed actor.”

Aoun chose direct engagement with Israel, believing it offered the only viable path to ending the war despite Hezbollah’s opposition. He bet that Trump alone could pressure Israel to withdraw its troops and help Lebanon restore its sovereignty.

The war broke out when Hezbollah opened a “support front” for Gaza on October 8, 2023, and resumed fighting in solidarity with Iran on March 2 of this year, UPI reported. Israel’s response significantly degraded the Iran-backed group and caused widespread destruction in southern Lebanon and other parts of the country.

Israel reduced approximately 70 border villages in southern Lebanon to rubble and rendered them uninhabitable while occupying a 6-mile buffer zone. Israel has insisted it will not withdraw its troops unless Hezbollah is completely disarmed.

Despite the Lebanese Army’s deployment in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh — the first pilot zone in southern Lebanon — Israel continued to carry out strikes, destroy homes and demolish Hezbollah tunnels and military infrastructure, according to UPI.

Qassem pointed out that Israel would not have carried out “all this aggression and genocide without the Americans.” He credited Iran rather than the direct negotiations for progress, saying Iran-U.S. negotiations in Islamabad brought about the return of displaced people to southern Lebanon and a cease-fire that reduced the escalation.

He said the war was “an existential war of aggression,” and that his group would “stand firm and defeat the Israeli project.” He added that those betting on surrender were “betting on a mirage.”