Hezbollah Protests Risk Widening Lebanon-Israel Deal Fault Lines

Hezbollah supporters flooded the streets of Beirut late Friday to protest the framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel. A lawmaker from the Iran-backed group warned that enforcing the deal could spark civil war.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that protesters rode motorbikes through central areas and along the road leading to the airport, chanting slogans. An AFP correspondent saw temporary Lebanese army checkpoints set up on several streets in the capital.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said authorities would be unable to enforce the Washington-signed accord "unless they go, with American support, to civil war." He added that the agreement was an attempt to disrupt the Islamabad path, referring to the initial US-Iran agreement to halt the Middle East war. "Without the resistance nothing will pass," Fadlallah said.

The protest began in Hezbollah's stronghold of Beirut's southern suburbs, where hundreds of supporters on motorbikes and mopeds gathered before moving into the city centre. Some congregated near the government seat and blocked a main road. Other footage showed soldiers chasing protesters who blocked the airport road with burning tires. The army reopened the road after clearing the area.

The NNA said at least one major road was blocked by burning tires. The army intervened but did not report any arrests or injuries.

The agreement, signed in Washington earlier this week, marks the first direct Israel-Lebanon diplomatic framework in decades. Hezbollah has long rejected direct talks, viewing them as a normalization of ties with Israel. The group's parliamentary bloc controls a significant portion of Lebanon's government, raising questions about how the deal can be implemented without its consent.

Fadlallah's civil war warning is not rhetorical. Lebanon's sectarian political system is fragile, and the army has avoided direct confrontation with Hezbollah for years. Enforcing terms that require the group to disarm or cede southern border control would test that balance.

The protest is the first street-level challenge to the framework. How the army handles future demonstrations will signal whether the state has the will and backing to enforce the agreement.