Hezbollah chief rejects Israel-Lebanon deal, vows group will not surrender

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem on Friday rejected a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon, saying the group would not accept measures requiring it to dismantle its infrastructure or surrender.

"We are against the framework agreement and call for its downfall," Qassem said in a televised address broadcast by Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.

Israel and Lebanon began US-sponsored direct talks after Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2, drawing Lebanon into the wider West Asia war. Israel responded with heavy strikes and a ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people.

A framework agreement signed by Israel and Lebanon in late June calls for Hezbollah's disarmament, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the area, initially through designated "pilot zones".

Qassem called the agreement "illegitimate, unlawful, humiliating" and destructive to Lebanese sovereignty. He rejected the pilot zones as well as a proposed system to verify their implementation.

Following talks in Rome earlier this month, a Lebanese source told AFP that the sides had agreed on a shortlist of countries that could oversee the pilot zone process, including the Lebanese army's removal of Hezbollah infrastructure from the designated areas.

Another round of talks was planned for early September, although no date has been announced.

While violence has declined since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader conflict in June and the Israel-Lebanon agreement later that month, Lebanon continues to report Israeli strikes, artillery fire and demolitions in southern villages and towns.

Israeli forces remain inside a self-declared security zone extending about 10 kilometres into Lebanese territory along the border. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported several Israeli airstrikes in the south on Friday, including in the Nabatieh area.

Qassem said Hezbollah supported the implementation of a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to end an earlier war with Israel.

"We will keep our heads high, and we will not surrender," he said.