On 26 June, the Lebanese government signed a framework agreement with the Zionist state, brokered and overseen by the United States, intended to bring to an end the most recent Israeli onslaught on southern Lebanon which has killed more than 4,000 people and injured 12,000 since it began on 2 March. The deal represents a further capitulation to Zionist interests by Lebanon’s comprador ruling class and was immediately rejected by the popular resistance forces.
Naim Qassem, secretary-general of Hezbollah, described the deal as ‘humiliating, shameful and a surrender of sovereignty’, and ‘null and void’, stating unequivocally ‘We will continue as a resistance in the field to defeat the occupation’.
The agreement – only agreed to by the Israeli state under duress from the United States as a result of its own war with Iran – commits Israeli forces to withdrawing from two ‘pilot zones’, to be replaced by the Lebanese army, with the expectation that Hezbollah will be disarmed. In return, the Lebanese government will move towards ‘normalising’ relations with Zionism. The deal is a sham in every way.
Resistance undefeated
Despite the agreement, Israel has not ceased to ravage southern Lebanon. Dozens of villages, towns and cities, including Tyre, a UNESCO World Heritage site, have been pummelled by Zionist forces. On 24 July, the bombs dropped by Israel on the southern city of al-Mansouri and the village of Majdal Zoun could be heard nine miles away. Over 90,000 homes in the south have been destroyed, and 500,000 Lebanese people are still displaced. Israel has been systematically levelling entire villages near the border, with Israeli officials openly declaring the objective of erasing Lebanese towns to create a ‘security zone’. Those who have been able to return are met with devastated homes and infrastructure. Zionist forces continue to occupy 20% of Lebanese territory – coming under constant attack from the country’s liberation forces.
Since 2025, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) have been tasked with disarming the resistance forces in Lebanon, a mandate which has been reiterated in the sham agreement. Britain alone has poured over £100m of funding into the LAF since 2009, and the British Army trained the LAF since 2013, providing them with arms and military vehicles as well as the knowledge to use them. The US, the largest provider of military assistance to the Lebanese state, has provided £3bn to the LAF. Imperialism sees the neutralisation of the Lebanese resistance, including Hezbollah, as key to furthering its wider interests in the region.
But the reality is that, despite decades of Zionist terror, including the brutal 2024 pager attacks that killed 42 people and injured 3,500, and constant attempts by the Lebanese government to destroy Hezbollah in the interests of Western imperialism, the resistance remains undefeated and hugely popular in southern Lebanon for their defence of the people against Zionist terror.
This experience of Israeli occupation and brutality over decades as well as the presence of nearly half a million displaced Palestinians in Lebanon mean the Lebanese people will never accept normalisation with the Zionist state, no matter how many deals their government signs. 89% of Lebanese people reject normalisation with Israel.
The agreement between the comprador Lebanese government and the Zionist state exists only in theory. This bogus framework may have been signed in the belly of the beast, Washington DC, but the outcome will be decided by the resistance on the ground, as it continues its defence against the Zionists.
Danny Williams
