With hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, mainly Shi’ite Muslims, still unable to return to homes in Israeli-occupied areas, anger over the agreement spread beyond Hezbollah to Shi’ites more widely. The Amal movement of Lebanon’s highest-ranking Shi’ite politician, parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, denounced the agreement as unbalanced, and said it would entrench conditions favouring Israel.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz praised the framework agreement, saying it permits Israel to maintain its occupation of a so-called security zone in Lebanon and bars the return of displaced residents.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech on Saturday, showed a map of the two ‘pilot zones’ that Israel had agreed to eventually hand over to the Lebanese army as part of the agreement. One of them was entirely outside of the area that Israeli troops occupy, while the other was on the edge of the expanded occupation area Israel announced last week.
ISRAELI DRONE STRIKE ON LEBANON
Lebanon’s state news agency said an Israeli drone struck Nabatieh al-Fawqa on Saturday. The area is outside the security zone shown on a map published by Israel of the territory its troops will continue to control.
The Israeli military told Reuters it had carried out the strike, using a drone because it had no troops in the immediate area. It said it targeted an individual who posed a threat to its forces, without giving further details or evidence.
Qassem said the Iran-US memorandum of understanding reached earlier this month, which guarantees Lebanon’s territorial integrity, should serve as the basis for ending the conflict, rather than Friday’s Washington agreement.
