In Lebanon, the agreement signed with Israel encourages protests, opposition | Israel is attacking Lebanon

Beirut, Lebanon – After the governments of Lebanon and Israel on Friday signed an agreement with the United States framework agreement After months of negotiations, protesters took to the streets of the Lebanese capital to express their anger at the deal.

Many of the demonstrators waved the flags of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which has been fighting Israel’s ongoing war and occupation of large swaths of southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah have been fighting since October 2023, with varying degrees of severity, but the former escalated the conflict twice – first in September 2024 and then about four months ago.

Some of the most vocal opponents of the plan, which does not force Israeli soldiers to leave the settlements, are those most affected by Israel’s war, which has killed more than 4,200 people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes since early March.

“After all that my family, my village, the south, and Dahiyeh have endured – destruction, displacement, grief and loss – it is very difficult for me to accept cooperation with the same country that carried out the wars that destroyed our communities,” said Ali Zaytoun, a resident of the southern suburb of Beirut, called Dahiye.

Zaytoun, who runs a popular Instagram account called History of Dahieh, said he has been displaced several times because of Israeli attacks.

“Imagine that someone destroys your home and your life, and then you are expected to continue living as if nothing happened,” said Zaytoun. “My protest is to remember those who have suffered, to represent my community, and to show that this agreement does not show the justice or respect that the people who lived through this war deserve.”

The new Oslo?

Israel’s March 2 escalation came after Hezbollah fired on Israel for more than a year following the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli airstrike in Tehran two days earlier, and in response to more than 10,000 violations by Israel of a ceasefire that was reached in November 2024.

On the same day, the Lebanese government declared the Hezbollah militant group illegal and later tried – unsuccessfully – to expel the Iranian ambassador.

His view was that Hezbollah’s actions had invited the wrath of Israel in a war that was being fought on behalf of Iran and not the Lebanese people.

Hezbollah, however, continued to fight Israel in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli army has established what it calls a “security zone” that extends 10km (6.2 miles) into the country.

As the attacks continued, the Lebanese government entered into non-binding negotiations with the United States and Israel, despite Hezbollah’s opposition.

The final text of the 14th Washington agreement states that Israel has no part of Lebanon and that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) will be the authority in southern Lebanon, “pending the confirmation of the weapons” of non-state groups such as Hezbollah.

Critics say that Israel recognizes Lebanon’s sovereignty over its territory, although critics say that the plan relies heavily on the US – Israel’s main sponsor and ambassador and a signatory to the agreement – to implement it.

“The United States cannot act as a neutral mediator and will agree with the Israeli position whenever conflicts arise in the interpretation or implementation of the agreement,” said Karim Emile Bitar, professor of international relations at Saint Joseph University of Beirut.

“This creates a middle ground where Lebanon has little power and few guarantees.”

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem declared the agreement “absurd”, calling it “shameful, humiliating, and giving power”, while Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah lawmaker, warned of “internal conflicts” in Lebanon.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called for calm but also said the deal was aimed at creating conflict.

Those who supported the government said that at first they had no choice but to negotiate directly, because of its limited power in the war against which Israel has advanced capabilities and the unwavering support of the US.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam wrote on social media after signing the agreement that it “aims to achieve the withdrawal of Israel from all parts of Lebanon”, while President Joseph Aoun called it “the first step” to restore Lebanese sovereignty.

However, the final wording of the agreement was criticized by many experts.

“The agreement shows the current state of war and politics, which favors Israel,” Bitar said.

Bitar said that the agreement was reminiscent of the Oslo Accords, a series of US-brokered agreements signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in the 1990s.

“We are seeing a similar pattern here: Negotiators in Israel want to be recognized and make the other side give up the option of not giving time to build or pay back,” he said.

On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted that the army would remain in Lebanon until Hezbollah was disarmed.

Dependence of the US

A few days before signing the Washington plan, Iran and the US agreed on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which seeks to end the war initiated by the US and Israel against Iran at the end of February.

The MoU announced, among other things, “an immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities in all areas, including Lebanon”, between the two countries and their allies.

The inclusion of Lebanon in the MoU was of great importance to Iran, where a “deconfliction cell” was established in order to promote the cessation of hostilities in the country.

Throughout the war and the negotiations, the Lebanese government has tried to distance itself from Iran – but some said it may have gone too far.

“We are seeing the confirmation of what Hezbollah has been warning all along. Not because Hezbollah got it right, but because Lebanon made a big mistake,” said Lebanese writer Elia Ayoub.

“I understand the importance of not being dependent on Iran, but what we have done is become more dependent on the US than we were before,” added Ayoub, founder of the podcast The Fire These Times.

“And it is the US that has been sustaining Israeli crimes in Palestine and war crimes in Lebanon,” Ayoub said.

Experts also questioned whether the government would be able to fulfill the agreement.

“It seems that the Lebanese side has been under a lot of pressure from the US to sign an agreement that cannot remain more than ink on paper, and it is unlikely that it will happen in any way,” Bitar said.

Karim Safieddine, a non-executive fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, said the plan had left the Lebanese government with a “miniature organization”.

“It’s Israel making a deal,” he added. “It’s clear what this deal is. It’s just a defeat deal.”

At the same time, some have expressed similar concerns about the 2024 ceasefire agreement, expressing doubts about whether Israel will be motivated to honor the plan.

“It’s one thing to sign a declaration of intent; it’s another thing to make it happen, and I can see all kinds of problems coming out of that,” said Nicholas Blanford, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council and author of a book on Hezbollah.

Last year, Israel repeatedly complained that the LAF’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah were either slow or ineffective. The US has generally sided with Israel despite diplomatic efforts from Europe and other officials to encourage it to support the LAF.

In a call with his US counterpart, President Donald Trump, on Saturday, Aoun said Lebanon will “take its responsibility” in implementing the plan and expressed his hope that Washington will help ensure that the commitments are fulfilled, especially by forcing Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories.

Article 9 of the agreement calls for the Lebanese government to implement a “sustainable, supportive system for the LAF to control the military and security of Lebanon…

This has caused some in Lebanon to worry about potential conflicts between the LAF and Hezbollah, but Blanford said the possibility of a major escalation is unlikely.

“The Lebanese army and government do not want to use force against Hezbollah,” he said. “Trying to kill a group that refuses to take up arms is a war. And I think the Lebanese army and the Lebanese government would be very sensitive to this.”