Hezbollah criticizes Aoun's Washington visit, accuses authorities of 'submission to foreign tutelage'

BEIRUT — Two days after President Joseph Aoun's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Hezbollah on Thursday renewed its criticism of the visit, even as many MPs and ministers praised the president's trip.

In a statement, Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, accused the authorities of leading the country "down a dead-end path" through "successive concessions that undermine the sovereignty of the state, the dignity of the nation and its people, while exposing the extent of its dependence on and submission to foreign tutelage."

The bloc said Aoun's visit to Washington had "put an end neither to the crimes, bombardment and destruction that the enemy continues to carry out, nor enabled the return of the displaced or the launch of reconstruction." It also dismissed what it called the government's "staged media campaign" as "an attempt to capitalize on an illusion."

Hezbollah rejects 'pilot zones'

Hezbollah also criticized the "pilot zones" agreed under the Lebanon-Israel framework agreement, arguing that the Lebanese Army had already been deployed among the local population in areas "the enemy failed to occupy thanks to the sacrifices of the resistance's fighters." It further claimed that the Israeli army "has not withdrawn from any of the areas it occupies."

Earlier Thursday, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah made similar remarks, saying the pilot zones were parts of south Lebanon that Israel "failed to occupy" and insisting that what happened in Zawtar Gharbieh "does not constitute an Israeli withdrawal."

The Lebanese Army began deploying to the village on Tuesday and is tasked with dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure there, a prerequisite for an Israeli withdrawal.

"What happened was merely a reinforcement of the Lebanese Army's deployment in liberated villages and towns that the enemy failed to occupy thanks to the blood of our martyrs and the sacrifices of our fighters," Fadlallah said during a speech in Haddath, Beirut's southern suburbs.

He also accused the Israeli army of opening fire on Lebanese troops on the first day of the deployment, claiming they had advanced 100 meters even though they were "on Lebanese territory."

The withdrawal from the first two "pilot zones," followed by the deployment of the Lebanese Army, is part of the framework agreement signed by the Lebanese and Israeli delegations during direct talks in Washington in June. The details were discussed in Rome earlier this month. Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Movement, continue to reject the direct negotiations.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam visited Zawtar Gharbieh, where the Lebanese Army had deployed, and raised the Lebanese flag a day after the Trump-Aoun meeting at the White House. During the visit to Washington, Aoun reiterated the state's commitment to establishing a monopoly over arms while insisting on a full Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon.

Fadlallah also accused the Lebanese authorities of portraying the deployment as "a fictitious achievement," denouncing what he called "dancing on the blood of the martyrs" and showing "contempt for the sacrifices" of Hezbollah fighters.

He added that Israel "failed to disarm the resistance by force of arms," and said Lebanese officials would not succeed either. "Our resistance is a national necessity, and we will remain committed to it until our land is liberated, our country protected, and the blood of our martyrs preserved," he said.