Hezbollah Calls US-Brokered Lebanon Security Deal A Surrender

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the US-brokered security agreement between Lebanon and Israel a day after it was signed, calling it a surrender. He accused Lebanon’s government of making one-sided concessions and undermining the country’s sovereignty, criticizing provisions that tie Israel’s withdrawal to Hezbollah’s disarmament. “We did not leave the battlefield in the most difficult circumstances, and we will not leave it,” he said, vowing continued armed resistance.

The framework allows a phased Israeli pullback from parts of southern Lebanon alongside Lebanese army deployment, but lets Israeli forces stay in an expanded security zone for now. Anger has spread beyond Hezbollah, with the Amal movement’s Nabih Berri also denouncing the deal as unbalanced and favoring Israel.

Drone Strike Hits Lebanon Amid Tensions

Israel carried out a drone strike in Nabatieh al-Fawqa on Saturday, outside its declared security zone, targeting what it called a threat to its forces. Israel’s Defense Minister praised the framework, saying it lets Israel maintain its occupation zone and blocks displaced residents from returning. Netanyahu presented a map of two “pilot zones” set to eventually transfer to the Lebanese army.

Qassem argued the earlier Iran US memorandum guaranteeing Lebanon’s territorial integrity should form the real basis for ending the conflict, not Friday’s agreement. More than a million Lebanese remain displaced amid the broader Iran war.