Dozens of supporters of the Shiite party-militia Hezbollah have gathered in the streets of Beirut on Friday night to show their rejection of the framework agreement sealed hours earlier between Lebanon and Israel, following a new round of talks held in the United States.
The participants in the protest have ridden motorcycles through different neighborhoods of the Lebanese capital, both in the center and in the southern districts, attempting to block several main roads, including the access road to Rafik Hariri International Airport, according to information disseminated by the official NNA agency and the newspaper "L'Orient-Le Jour".
Faced with these blocking attempts, the Lebanese Army has deployed troops in the area and used tear gas to disperse several groups of demonstrators carrying flags of Hezbollah, as well as Lebanon and Iran, as also shown by videos circulating on social media.
In parallel to the protests, delegations from Lebanon, Israel, and the United States signed a framework agreement on Friday to initiate formal negotiations with the aim of achieving "lasting" peace and security, thus concluding the fifth round of contacts promoted by Washington since March 2, the date on which the Israeli army and Hezbollah resumed fighting that successive ceasefires have failed to stop.
The text contemplates, in addition to the disarmament of Hezbollah and the full recovery of the sovereignty of the Lebanese state over all its territory, the implementation of a "Trilateral Military Coordination Group for Lebanon and "immediate" humanitarian aid from the United States valued at 100 million dollars (87 million euros) in coordination with the United Nations.
In this context, the Lebanese authorities have updated the victim toll on Friday, placing the number of deaths at 4,243, including 135 healthcare professionals, and the number of injured at 12,186 due to Israeli attacks against Lebanese territory since March 2, a few days after the offensive launched jointly with the United States against Iran.