Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated over the weekend that a recently signed peace framework between his country and Lebanon represents a setback for Iran and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The agreement, finalized in Washington following several rounds of negotiations, outlines steps to disarm Hezbollah and end decades of hostility. Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, immediately rejected the deal, calling it invalid and a surrender of sovereignty, while warning it could lead to Israeli expansion. Israel’s defense minister meanwhile announced that Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed. The accord emerges from a broader regional conflict involving U.S.-Iranian understandings and has drawn both domestic Israeli criticism and street protests in Beirut.