Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejects Israel-Lebanon framework, Israeli drone strikes Nabatieh
Naim Qassem calls the US-brokered framework 'invalid' and a surrender of national sovereignty, while an Israeli drone targets alleged militants in Nabatieh.
Qassem rejects the agreement
On Saturday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected the framework agreement signed a day earlier in Washington between Israel and Lebanon.
He said it must be replaced by the Iran-United States memorandum of understanding. He also urged the Lebanese government to abandon the deal and warned that linking Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon to Hezbollah's disarmament violates the group's 'red lines'.The agreement is invalid, a humiliation, and a surrender of national sovereignty.
Framework details
According to the agreement, two pilot schemes will see Israeli forces withdraw from small areas they currently control, to be replaced by Lebanese army units. US military officials will cooperate with Lebanon to verify that Hezbollah is not present in those areas. Israeli officials said one area lies north of the Litani River and the second south of it. The deal was brokered by Washington and signed on Friday, June 26.
Israeli airstrike on Nabatieh
Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli drone struck the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said the strike targeted 'alleged terrorists who posed a threat to Israeli soldiers' in the Nabatieh region. It was the first such strike since the framework agreement was announced.
- Israel and Lebanon sign US-brokered framework agreement in Washington.
- Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejects the agreement as 'invalid', a 'humiliation', and demands replacement with Iran-US memorandum.
- Israeli drone strikes alleged militants in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon.
