Hezbollah: the resistance will defeat the U.S. project in Lebanon

Shafaq News/ Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, said Lebanon had achieved a "great victory" by finalizing the maritime border demarcation with "Israel."

Kassem considered the solidarity among President Michel Aoun, the Lebanese army, the people, and the resistance as the cause of the "great victory."

This victory is "unparalleled in the history of conflicts: that a weak country (Lebanon) compared to the enemy (Israel) can triumph over Israel and the United States," The top Hezbollah official added.

Qassem considered the U.S. sanctions to be against Lebanon and not the "Resistance,"

"America wants the displaced Syrians to stay in Lebanon and settle the Palestinians for the security and stability of Israel."

"The American project aims to reassure Israel, and the resistance will defeat this project." He concluded.

Last week, Lebanese and Israeli leaders finalized a U.S.-brokered maritime demarcation deal.

There was no joint signing ceremony: Lebanese President Michel Aoun signed a letter approving the deal at his palace in Baabda in the presence of the U.S. official who mediated the accord, Amos Hochstein.

Lebanon does not recognize Israel's right to exist and still considers itself at war with its neighbor, with laws barring contact with Israeli officials.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah, called it a "tremendous victory for Lebanon."

He said the fighters and military resources of his group had mobilized as a form of pressure to ensure talks went well could now be de-activated, announcing: "Mission accomplished."

Nasrallah also said the Lebanese government had been careful to ensure that the negotiations and approval protocols had no hint of "normalization" with Israel.

A week before the deal, Reuters revealed that Hezbollah had scrutinized the final draft line by line and given a crucial nod of acceptance.

Behind the scenes, the heavily armed group was being briefed on the details and expressing its views even as it threatened military action were Lebanon's interests not secured, according to sources familiar with Hezbollah's thinking, a Lebanese official and a Western source familiar with the process. Reuters said.