Protests erupt in Beirut over deal with Israel (VIDEOS)
Protests have broken out in Beirut in response to the Lebanese government signing a peace agreement with Israel and the US despite it being rejected by Hezbollah.
People gathered in the streets waving Hezbollah and Iranian flags. Armed Hezbollah supporters rode in motorcades, while government troops were deployed across the capital and set up checkpoints.
Under the agreement signed on Friday, Israel and Lebanon affirmed “the right of each state to exist in peace” and expressed their intention to conclude a lasting peace.
Hezbollah, however, has demanded that Israel completely withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon.
Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah member of parliament, warned that the Lebanese government would be “unable to enforce the agreement signed in Washington unless they go, with American support, to civil war.”
RT’s Ali Rida Sbeity reports from Beirut that Hezbollah and its allies view the agreement as humiliating and believe it gives Israel greater freedom to operate in the parts of Lebanon which it continues to occupy.
