Hezbollah leader , Naim Qassem, rejected the US-brokered security agreement between Lebanon and Israel just one day after it was signed, declaring the agreement ‘null and void’ and accusing the Lebanese government of surrendering the country’s sovereignty.
In a statement on 27 June, Qassem described the deal as “humiliating, shameful and a surrender of sovereignty”. He accused the government of “legitimising the ongoing (Israeli) occupation”, stating that the government had crossed “all red lines”.
The Iranian-backed ‘Hezbollah’, a militant group and political party controlling much of southern Lebanon, is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, whilst the European Union has blacklisted its armed wing but not its political wing.
Also on 27 June, Lebanon’s state news agency reported an Israeli drone strike near Nabatiya al-Fawq in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military stated that the target was an individual posing a threat to their forces.
The agreement, signed in Washington on 26 June following five rounds of negotiations, provides for the phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of southern Lebanon, alongside the deployment of the Lebanese army. It also sets out a process for the verified disarmament of ‘Hezbollah’, allowing Israeli forces to remain temporarily in an extended buffer zone.
The latest conflict broke out in March after Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes. Israel responded with air strikes and a ground offensive in southern Lebanon, where its forces continue to hold territory.