'The Framework Agreement is a unilateral deal imposed by Israel,’ Jumblatt says

BEIRUT — Former Progressive Socialist Party leader, Walid Jumblatt, stated that the "Framework Agreement [with Israel] is a unilateral agreement imposed by Israel on a Lebanese team, both inside and outside the country, that possesses limited expertise in law and diplomacy,” according to comments reported by the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Tuesday.

He stressed that "peace with Israel is impossible." Speaking during a meeting of the Druze community's sectarian council, he said: "This treaty is an imposition. It makes no mention of an Israeli withdrawal, and this is what happens when the country's fate is entrusted to groups that lack experience in international politics and whose only concern is power."

He added: "I call on the Lebanese state, if it has the means, to prepare new shelters in southern Lebanon, even though this proposal has been rejected and continues to be rejected."

The U.S.-sponsored Lebanon-Israel framework agreement signed in Washington aims to end the conflict and establish sovereign relations between the two countries. It lays out a roadmap for the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, contingent upon the Lebanese Army disarming Hezbollah.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem rejected the agreement, calling it "null void."