Hezbollah terrorists reject US-brokered Lebanon security deal, refuses 'surrender' to Israel: report
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem on Saturday panned the U.S.-backed framework for peace and security between Israel and Lebanon, calling the deal a surrender to Israel, according to a report from Reuters.
Qassem issued a statement describing the agreement as “null and void” and criticized provisions tying Israel’s withdrawal in southern Lebanon to the disarmament of Hezbollah, claiming it supports Israel’s military presence and crosses “all red lines,” Reuters reported.
"We did not leave the battlefield in the most difficult circumstances, and we will not leave it,” Qassem reportedly added.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Hezbollah, “Iran’s most dangerous proxy, has repeatedly dragged Lebanon into devastating wars against the will of its government and people, most recently this March” following the launch of Operation Epic Fury.
“It has built a vast military infrastructure inside Lebanon, fired tens of thousands of rockets and drones at Israeli cities, and played a key role in the devastation of Syria,” Rubio said about the terrorist group. “Hezbollah also plots attacks against Americans, supports drug trafficking networks that fuel violence in our hemisphere and inside the United States, and directly threatens American citizens and interests around the world.”
Rubio added that the “governments of Israel and Lebanon made a bold decision to agree to a framework that builds a realistic path out of endless conflict” and that “this agreement establishes a clear and structured process to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, and enable Israel to return to its borders once that threat to its citizens is removed.”
Posted by Greg Norman-Diamond