'We will not leave battlefield': Hezbollah rejects US-backed Israel-Lebanon deal as 'surrender'

BEIRUT, LEBANON: After the US, Israel, and Lebanon signed a trilateral framework deal, Iran's alleged proxy, Hezbollah, rejected the security agreement and refused to leave the battlefield.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem, on Saturday, June 27, released a statement against the US-brokered peace deal between Israel and Lebanon, describing the agreement as “null and void.”

Hezbollah refuses Israel-linked withdrawal deal

"We did not leave the battlefield in the most difficult circumstances, and we will not leave it,” Qassem reportedly added.

Hezbollah’s statement comes after Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement in Washington following several days of US-brokered negotiations.

It comes as limited fighting has continued between Israeli forces and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, despite an existing ceasefire.

Hezbollah is not a party to Friday's agreement, and now it has refused to withdraw its fighters from the South Litani area in southern Lebanon.

In the 14-point framework agreement, Israel and Lebanon both "affirm" the right of each state to "live in peace," and express "mutual desire to live in security as neighboring sovereign states."

Marco Rubio says Hezbollah is Iran's 'most dangerous proxy'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on 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 radical group.

“Hezbollah also plots attacks against Americans, supports illicit networks that fuel violence in our hemisphere and inside the United States, and directly threatens American citizens and interests around the world,” he added.

Rubio noted 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.”

He further said, “This agreement establishes a clear and structured process to restore Lebanon’s sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its extremist infrastructure, and enable Israel to return to its borders once that threat to its citizens is removed.”