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

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem again rejects a deal struck between Israel and Lebanon and says his Iran-backed terror group refuses to “surrender” nearly six months after war erupted with Israel.

“We are against the framework agreement and call for its downfall,” Qassem says in a televised address broadcast on the group’s Al-Manar television channel.

Israel and Lebanon launched US-sponsored direct talks after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by attacking Israel, which responded with massive strikes and a ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people.

At talks in late June, Lebanon and Israel signed a framework deal that calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in “pilot zones.”

“The framework agreement is illegitimate, unlawful, humiliating, destructive to Lebanese sovereignty,” Qassem says.

“We do not agree to the ‘pilot zones’ or to what comes from them,” he says, also rejecting any proposed verification system.

A fresh round of talks is planned for early September, but no date has been announced yet.

Qassem says his group supported the implementation of a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end a previous war with Israel.

“We will keep our heads high and we will not surrender,” he vows.