Hezbollah has rejected the renewed ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, calling the negotiations 'futile' and 'humiliating.'
Naim Qassem, the leader of the Iran-backed group, said the deal amounts to surrender and would fulfill Israel's objectives. The agreement, announced Wednesday after US-mediated talks, calls for the creation of pilot security zones in southern Lebanon where Hezbollah operatives would be banned.
Residents in Beirut's southern suburbs expressed deep skepticism. 'This is not a peace agreement. This is a surrender agreement,' one storekeeper told the BBC.
The deal is contingent on the evacuation of Hezbollah fighters from the area between the Israeli border and the Litani River, currently occupied by Israeli ground forces. The US would help guide the creation of zones where the Lebanese Armed Forces would take exclusive control.
Meanwhile, strikes continue. Lebanese media reported five people killed in the Bekaa Valley and another near Tyre on Thursday. A UN peacekeeper from Serbia was also killed by mortar fire near Marjayoun.
Negotiators are set to meet again on June 22 to work toward a comprehensive agreement.