Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanese authorities would not be able to enforce a framework agreement signed with Israel in Washington on Friday unless, with U.S. support, “they go to civil war,” Al Mayadeen reported on Friday, after talks aimed at ending fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed group.
Fadlallah said that the Lebanese government had given “a gift to the Israeli enemy,” but that this would have no practical effects on the ground. Hezbollah would confront any measure taken by Lebanese authorities and would hold on to its weapons even more, adding that group’s opposition was “serious” and would not allow authorities to implement their commitments on the ground.
However, he stressed that Hezbollah is not interested in a confrontation with the Lebanese army, saying: “The army will remain, the resistance will remain, and the people will remain.”
Fadlallah cleaimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “negotiated with himself,” because, according to him, the Lebanese government “lacks constitutional and national legitimacy and does not possess the tools to impose dictates on the Lebanese people.”
He further claimed that the move in Washington was intended to disrupt the path that began in Islamabad, adding that “nothing will pass without the resistance.” According to him, the decisive factor is what is happening on the ground, since “we hold the ground and we are the people of the country.”
Referring to Iran, he said that its position is clear and that it will not sign any agreement before an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
He also claimed that direct contacts with Israel are contrary to Article 52 of the Lebanese constitution, and that no one has the authority to cancel the state of hostility towards Israel. According to him, “Whoever shakes the hand of the enemy is an accomplice in his crimes.”