Hezbollah has rejected the newly signed Lebanon-Israel framework agreement, warning that any attempt by Lebanese authorities to implement it would trigger a "civil war" backed by the United States, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli troops would remain in southern Lebanon until the group was disarmed.
In the first official response from Hezbollah since the agreement was signed in Washington on Friday, MP Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanese authorities could not "impose the implementation" of the accord "except by engaging in a civil war, with the support of the United States".
Speaking to Al Mayadeen , Fadlallah described the agreement as an attempt to derail the "Islamabad process" of negotiations between Iran and the United States , insisting that "without the resistance, nothing will pass".
"We will not allow the Lebanese authorities to destroy Lebanon," he said, adding that Friday's agreement "will have no effect on the ground".
Fadlallah also said Iran's position remained unchanged, claiming Tehran would not sign any agreement before a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
His comments came hours after Lebanon, Israel and the United States signed a trilateral framework agreement intended to pave the way for a future peace deal between the two long-time adversaries.
The agreement, the details of which have not been made public, follows five rounds of talks in Washington aimed at ending decades of hostilities and recent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the agreement "begins to put in place a framework for lasting peace and security".
Lebanon's ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, described the accord as "a first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities (and) enabling our people to go back to their land."
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said the deal meant "Iran is out, Hezbollah is out, and the road to peace between Israel and Lebanon is in."
Following the signing, Netanyahu announced that Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon under the framework agreement until Hezbollah is disarmed.
He said Israel and Lebanon had agreed to establish two pilot areas near the Blue Line where Hezbollah would be dismantled and control transferred to the Lebanese Armed Forces. According to Netanyahu, one area lies south of the Litani River, while the other is north of the Litani, outside the original Blue Line.
Netanyahu added that the Israeli military would retain "freedom of military action" inside what he described as a "security zone" in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah no longer posed a threat.
Hezbollah entered the conflict on 2 March, saying it was responding to the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel subsequently launched a large-scale air campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon that Lebanese authorities say killed more than 4,200 people.
Under US mediation, Lebanese and Israeli officials began direct talks in Washington in April. A ceasefire announced on 17 April later collapsed, before a new truce was reached this month after Tehran insisted that any agreement with Washington to end the wider regional conflict must also include Lebanon.