Hezbollah chief declares US-brokered framework agreement 'effectively nonexistent'

TEHRAN — Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a speech on October 28 that the resistance will keep its weapons for as long as Israel occupies Lebanese land. There is "no room for discussion" on disarmament while the occupation and aggression continue, he said, declaring the U.S.-brokered framework agreement signed in June "effectively nonexistent." Addressing the "sacrificing and honorable" people of Lebanon, Sheikh Qassem placed the resistance on legal ground.

It acts, he said, under a legitimate right that the Taif Agreement and the constitution protect. His demand was concrete: an Israeli pullout under the November 27, 2024 ceasefire and UN Security Council Resolution 1701, with the Lebanese army deployed south of the Litani River. Israel has delivered neither. After the November ceasefire, it kept troops at five positions it deems strategic and went on striking Lebanon almost daily. Sheikh Qassem sees a pattern older than any of this.

He said the resistance exists because of an occupation backed by the world's tyrants, America first among them. Israel's wars, launched on flimsy pretexts, serve the "Greater Israel" agenda, he said, adding accords such as Madrid and Oslo were stops on the way to the next war. Without American and Western backing, Israel could neither hold its gains nor expand, and the same backing sustains the genocide in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel quit south Lebanon in 2000 under fire, with no agreement to sign.

A framework with no withdrawal date Sheikh Qassem said the June 26 text of the framework agreement has no legitimacy because it contradicts the constitution, Taif, the president's inaugural speech and the government's own policy statement. It gives the enemy what is not his, surrenders sources of Lebanon's strength and feeds on strife, he lamented. The terms help his case. A "phased" Israeli withdrawal is tied to Hezbollah's verified disarmament, and no date is set.

The resistance is supposed to disarm first, and Israel is supposed to leave when it decides it is satisfied. Four months on, President Joseph Aoun told a visiting German minister Thursday that a ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, border demarcation and the release of prisoners had still not materialized, a week after trilateral talks at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa. War Minister Israel Katz said on October 14 that Israeli forces remain in "security zones" in Lebanon and Syria.

Sheikh Qassem wants an end to American tutelage over parts of the Lebanese state. "Tutelage is like occupation," he said, adding, “Both violate sovereignty." Lebanon's Health Ministry counts 4,389 people killed and 12,424 wounded between March 2 and October 12. A so-called ceasefire took effect on April 17 and has not stopped the drones. On October 12, Israeli aircraft hit Kfar Tibnit and Tallousah while artillery shelled Beit Lif, Majdal Zoun and Yater.

Even Aoun has said Israel has demolished homes, bulldozed lands and kept farmers out of their fields. Iran, America and Israel's election Sheikh Qassem said Hezbollah follows the diplomatic moves between Iran and the U.S. closely. The Iran-U.S. memorandum in June earned its keep as soon as it was announced, he said, by lowering Israeli aggression on Lebanon. Iran has placed an end to that aggression and an Israeli withdrawal at the top of its priorities, "a great sacrifice we appreciate" from "the icon of the free people of the world," the Hezbollah chief said.

On Washington, Sheikh Qassem said "tyrannical America" is in no better shape. Iran buried the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, his family and many commanders, yet frustrated the American and Israeli aim of toppling the government and disintegrating the country, the resistance leader pointed out. He credited the Iranian people and the leadership of Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei. The U.S., by contrast, is mired in erratic decisions and a severe economic crisis, has lost its global standing and is preparing to leave the region, Naim Qassem noted.

Israel's election earned no kinder review. Results from the October 27 vote left Netanyahu's bloc with 53 seats, eight short of a majority, which Sheikh Qassem called "one of the expressions of defeat." "We do not concern ourselves with who governs the usurping Israeli entity," he said. "But it must know it cannot continue its occupation, and it must leave our land." Unity, with conditions At home, Sheikh Qassem renewed Hezbollah's "promise and commitment" pledge to provide shelter, repairs and reconstruction, and to press the state to do its part with help from friendly countries.

He affirmed the bond with the Amal Movement and allied forces, support for the army, rejection of sedition and readiness for dialogue within the constitution. He attached a condition: "actions from others" that prove they mean it. "The cost of resistance is heavy," he said, "but surrender and concession leave nothing." He closed with the Quranic verse: "Allah will surely support those who support Him."