SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Israel and Lebanon have agreed on a road map for ending the war that has killed thousands of Lebanese people. Israel has destroyed whole villages and occupied large parts of Southern Lebanon in its military campaign against the Hezbollah militia. In signing the U.S.-brokered agreement, Lebanon's ambassador to the U.S., Nada Moawad, called this a first step.
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NADA MOAWAD: The first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity.
DETROW: But Hezbollah immediately rejected the agreement. And in Lebanon, as NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports, it's been widely attacked as unworkable.
RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE: Even with the deal between Israel and Lebanon signed, Israeli drones still circle - menacing - over Beirut.
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SHERLOCK: Outside Lebanon's Parliament, protesters against the agreement blast songs celebrating the fight against Israel.
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UNIDENTIFIEDI MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in non-English language).
SHERLOCK: Hezbollah's leader, Naim Qassem, has called it, quote, "a surrender of Lebanese sovereignty." It's a view widely shared across Lebanon.
SELENA NASIR: It is not in the interest of the Lebanese. And it is not in the interest of Lebanon.
SHERLOCK: This is Selena Nasir (ph), a Lebanese human rights expert now focused on the war in the south. The agreement makes Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon conditional on Hezbollah giving up its weapons. Israel claims it's weakened the Iranian-backed militia enough that the Lebanese army can enforce this. Nasir says this is simply not the case. The Lebanese military is small, with limited combat experience.
NASIR: The Lebanese state will not be able to disarm Hezbollah, and therefore, the Israeli army will not do their commitments of redeployment and allowing people to return to their villages.
SHERLOCK: All over Beirut, crammed into courtyards between skyscrapers and along the seafront, are tents housing those whose homes in south Lebanon have been destroyed in the bombardment or are now beyond their reach in territory occupied by the Israeli army. These are the people most affected by the deal.
Hi.
IMAN HAREZ: (Non-Enlish language spoken).
SHERLOCK: Four-year-old Selene (ph) comes up to us shyly, as we speak with her mother, Iman Harez (ph).
HAREZ: (Non-Enlish language spoken).
SHERLOCK: "This little one has lived through two wars," Harez says - this one and the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah a few years ago.
HAREZ: (Non-Enlish language spoken).
SHERLOCK: She says her daughter knows what to do when she hears a warplane - rush to try to shelter against a wall. All this suffering has bolstered support for Hezbollah by many who see the militia as stopping Israel from taking more land. Ali Shaito (ph), a mechanical engineer and refugee from the south says, especially now, it's unthinkable to disarm the group.
ALI SHAITO: No one could take the weapon of Hezbollah.
SHERLOCK: And in Lebanon, a country of many religions with a history of sectarian violence, if the Lebanese army tries to remove Hezbollah's weapons, Shaito warns, it could push the country to civil war.
SHAITO: To have a war between each other, not with another country. (Non-Enlish language spoken)..
SHERLOCK: A few meters away, Mohammad Asmar (ph) sits on an orange sofa outside a tent he shares with his wife and three young children. A Lebanese flag flutters in the breeze.
MOHAMMAD ASMAR: (Non-Enlish language spoken).
SHERLOCK: Asmar says he put up the flag even before the tent and that he would like to see a strong Lebanon, where the army controls its borders.
ASMAR: (Non-Enlish language spoken).
SHERLOCK: He served in the Lebanese army for 14 years. He's also a Shia Muslim from the south, the block from which Hezbollah draws much support. When asked if he were in the military today, if he would carry out orders to disarm Hezbollah, he avoids giving a clear answer.
Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Beirut. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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