Hezbollah Rejects Israel-Lebanon Deal; Katz Says IDF Told to Prepare for Long Stay in Lebanon

Defense Minister ישראל Katz addressed the framework agreement with Lebanon this evening (*Motzaei Shabbat*) and called it “a historic event and an important diplomatic and security achievement for the State of Israel.” According to Katz, “The agreement could, for the first time in decades, shape a new and safer reality on the northern border and in Lebanon, and strengthen the security of Israel’s citizens over time.”

Katz added: “The key principle established in the agreement is that there will be no renewed Israeli deployment in southern Lebanon, no withdrawal whatsoever, as long as the Hezbollah terror organization is not disarmed throughout Lebanon. The test will be in the implementation of the agreement, and many more challenges are expected. The prime minister and I have instructed the IDF to prepare for a prolonged stay in the security zone, and to make the necessary preparations for protecting IDF soldiers and removing threats from the northern communities.”

In Lebanon, reports today said the IDF carried out a strike in al-Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the country’s south. According to the report, four drone strikes were carried out in the area במהלך the day.

Hezbollah Secretary-General: “We will continue as resistance on the ground”

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem addressed the agreement between Israel and Lebanon: “The framework agreement is humiliating and constitutes a surrender of sovereignty. The agreement prevents the Lebanese from exercising their right to return to their land. Linking an Israeli withdrawal to the disarmament of Hezbollah is a very dangerous proposal that crosses all red lines. We will continue as resistance on the ground in order to defeat the occupation. We did not leave the field under difficult circumstances, and we will not leave it.”

Qassem added that the agreement is “null and void and must be replaced by the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran. No one has the right to strip the Lebanese of their right to defend themselves and their land against an occupier. The enemy must withdraw.”

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri addressed the Lebanese-Israeli framework agreement and said that “for my people in Lebanon — all of Lebanon — this is incitement to civil war.” Ihab Hamadeh, a Lebanese member of parliament from Hezbollah, responded to the agreement and said that “linking withdrawal to the disarmament of Hezbollah is another step reflecting the tendency of the Lebanese state toward internal conflict. Hezbollah is maintaining its position against the enemy until the full liberation of the land. The agreement will remain nothing more than ink on paper. It can be seen as an Israeli-Israeli agreement.”

A senior Houthi official, Mohammed al-Farah, also joined the condemnations of the agreement between Lebanon and Israel: “The agreement between the Lebanese government and the Israeli enemy is an alliance to eliminate the resistance and a conspiracy against southern Lebanon. The most dangerous aspect of this agreement is the success of the Israeli enemy in moving the battle into Lebanon itself. As a result, the inevitable outcome of this agreement will be one of two scenarios: a devastating Lebanese civil war or a direct Zionist occupation of Lebanon. Therefore, the Lebanese people have the right to bring down this puppet government by any means possible.”