Beirut, June 5, (dpa/GNA) – Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, on Thursday rejected a US-backed ceasefire agreement negotiated between Lebanon and Israel, while Lebanese troops began deploying in a southern border town following the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The deal, announced in Washington on Wednesday, aims to end hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group and includes steps toward Hezbollah’s disarmament.
In a televised statement, Qassem described the agreement as “a roadmap for the destruction of part of the Lebanese people and the subjugation of the rest.” He also urged Lebanon’s leadership to end direct negotiations with Israel, calling the talks a “farce” and a “humiliation,” and again rejected demands that Hezbollah disarm.
The Lebanese government, which approved the deal, has limited influence over Hezbollah, a Shiite movement that wields significant political and military power in the country.
Following the outbreak of the Iran war, Hezbollah which had long operated in Lebanon as a state within a state, resumed firing rockets and drones at northern Israel out of solidarity with the Iranian authorities.
The Israeli armed forces subsequently attacked militia positions in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah strongholds in the suburbs of the capital, Beirut.
Lebanon and Israel have been holding direct political talks since mid-April, mediated by the United States. Hezbollah is not participating. Lebanon’s PM stands by Israel talksLebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Thursday defended his government’s negotiations with Israel as the “fastest and least costly path” for Lebanon.
In a statement released by his office, Salam said: “We could have stood by in the face of a reality and a war that we did not choose, but that was never an option for a single moment,” he said, describing the talks as difficult and the Israeli position as “tough.”
Salam said the principle of a state monopoly on arms had already been established after the country’s civil war ended in the early 1990s and that Lebanon should not miss another opportunity to enforce it. Qassem stated that Hezbollah had not promised anyone to renounce “resistance or retaliation,” adding that as long as the attacks continued, the group would continue its military operations. “We reject any link between the existence of the resistance and the end of aggression or the withdrawal of Israel,” he said. Israel has consistently stated that it is attacking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon because the militia has attacked Israeli communities in northern Israel.
Qassem said Hezbollah supports a comprehensive ceasefire that must include an end to all Israeli attacks, the withdrawal of Israel from Lebanese territory, the return of displaced persons and reconstruction efforts. Under the Israel-Lebanon agreement, the parties agreed that the ceasefire was “contingent on a complete cessation” of Hezbollah attacks. The plan also includes the requirement that Hezbollah withdraw from areas south of the Litani River, some of which lie up to 30 kilometres north of the Israeli border.
Pilot or security zones would be established in southern Lebanon under the exclusive control of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The Lebanese army would then gradually assume full responsibility for security in these areas.Lebanese troops enter border town Meanwhile, Lebanese troops began entering the southern border town of Dibbin on Thursday after confirming that Israeli forces had withdrawn from the area, in a further step toward implementing the ceasefire deal. In a statement, the army said one of its units had removed earthen barriers erected by Israeli troops on the road leading to Dibbin.
Army units began a gradual deployment in and around the town in coordination with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism and peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the statement said. The army urged residents not to approach the area and to follow military instructions until the deployment process is complete.
GNA