AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Sheikh Ali al-Khatib, the Vice President of Lebanon's Supreme Islamic Shiite Council, today, Saturday, described the agreement between his country's government and the Zionist regime as surrender to Israel's demands.
Al-Khatib, referring to the fact that Lebanese officials have submitted to American dictates, said, "The U.S. government sees nothing but Israel's interests. There is no clearer evidence for this claim than Benjamin Netanyahu's joy over this agreement and his description of it as a great achievement for the Zionist regime."
Stating that Lebanese officials are giving empty promises to the residents of the south of the country, he stated, "Apparently, these officials have not previously witnessed Israel's breaches of trust and its violation of commitments and agreements."
Regarding the Zionists' claim to disarm Hezbollah, this Lebanese official said, "Linking Israel's full withdrawal from Lebanese territories to the disarmament of the resistance complicates the problem and leads nowhere; because with the occupation [by Israel], the elimination of Hezbollah is an illogical matter."
Lebanon and Israel signed a general and preliminary agreement on Friday evening, after four days of negotiations in Washington mediated by the United States and following the fifth round of talks.
Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah representative in the Lebanese Parliament, firmly stated that Hezbollah considers such an agreement illegitimate and illegal, and will use all its capacity to oppose its implementation.
He said, "Direct negotiations with the Israeli enemy are contrary to Article 52 of the Lebanese Constitution, and no individual has the right to cancel the state of enmity with Israel."
American and Israeli officials have also announced that U.S. military officers will cooperate with the Lebanese army in implementing pilot plans to ensure that these areas are cleared of any presence of Hezbollah forces.
A senior Israeli official has stated that the Israeli army's military freedom of action throughout the security zone will be maintained to confront any threat.
Al-Khatib, stating that Lebanese officials have not learned from past experiences, continued, "These experiences caused all agreements lacking national consensus in Lebanon to fail. A clear example is the May 17 agreement, which involved Lebanon in bitter civil wars."
The May 17 agreement was reached in 1983 and was an agreement signed between Lebanon and Israel during the Lebanese Civil War on May 17, 1983, following the 1982 Lebanon War and the siege of Beirut in 1982. This agreement called for the withdrawal of Israeli army forces from Beirut and paved the way for the normalization of relations between Beirut and Tel Aviv.
Al-Khatib concluded that the fate of this new agreement will not be better than the May 17 agreement; an agreement that at the time spoke of Israeli withdrawals, while the current withdrawal is tied to this regime's impossible conditions.
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