Hezbollah supporters poured into the streets of Beirut Friday, blocking major roads including routes near Rafic Hariri International Airport and Salim Salam Road, in protest of the trilateral framework agreement signed hours earlier between Israel, Lebanon, and the United States in Washington.
The demonstrations turned confrontational in some areas, with clashes reported between protesters and Lebanese security forces. Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has declared the deal non-binding on the group, demanding full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory without any conditions on Hezbollah's weapons.
Footage from the ground showed a sea of Hezbollah's yellow flags alongside portraits of Iranian leaders and symbols of the Islamic Republic. Lebanese national flags were conspicuously scarce, particularly in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Hezbollah's stronghold, a visual that cuts to the heart of Lebanon's sovereignty crisis.
The scenes illustrated in real time the central contradiction the framework agreement must now confront: Lebanon's government signed a deal committing to disarm all non-state armed groups, while the most powerful armed group in the country took to the streets to reject it within hours.
