Hezbollah: Lebanese authorities fully responsible for pursuing concessions and giving Israel ‘free gifts’

Hezbollah said in a statement that the Israeli Foreign Ministry published a map on Sunday incorporating occupied southern Lebanon into Israel, calling it “undeniable confirmation” of Israel’s ambitions toward Lebanon, its land, resources and capabilities, which it said Israel “has not and will not abandon.”

The statement said Israel’s entry into direct negotiations with the Lebanese authorities was merely “an exposed attempt to buy time and impose new realities on the ground.”

“The Lebanese authorities bear full responsibility for insisting on pursuing a path of concessions and giving the enemy free gifts,” the statement said, calling on the authorities to conduct a comprehensive review to correct their course and halt what it described as “direct and humiliating negotiations” with Israel, which it said lacked any leverage.

Hezbollah called for immediate action at all levels, from the government to the Higher Defense Council, saying an emergency session should be held to take the necessary steps to address the issue, foremost among them filing an urgent complaint with the U.N. Security Council.

It added that even if the Lebanese authorities had pledged not to pursue Israel in international forums, “there is no longer any justification for ignoring the reality of Israel’s ambitions toward Lebanon.”

Hezbollah said Lebanese citizens from all communities must recognize the scale of the risks to which the authorities are exposing Lebanon by continuing along the path of concessions and what it called “humiliating negotiations.”

“It is a national responsibility to unify efforts and positions in confronting the occupation and its ambitions, and to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty and its full rights to its land and resources,” the statement said, adding that Israel’s ambitions “are not limited to southern Lebanon but target the entire country.”