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Hezbollah supporters took to the streets of Beirut late Friday to protest a framework agreement announced between Israel and Lebanon, while a lawmaker from the Iran-backed group warned that enforcing the deal could risk civil war.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, or NNA, reported that Hezbollah supporters rode motorbikes through several parts of the capital, including central areas and a road leading to the airport, in protest against the agreement announced between Lebanon and Israel.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent reportedly saw people riding motorbikes and chanting slogans along one road, as the Lebanese army set up temporary checkpoints along several streets in Beirut.
Footage circulating on local outlets and social media showed hundreds of Hezbollah supporters on motorbikes and mopeds roaming Beirut's southern suburbs, the group's stronghold, before heading toward the heart of the capital.
Some protesters gathered near the seat of government and blocked a nearby main road.
Other footage showed soldiers chasing away Hezbollah supporters who had blocked the main road leading to the airport with burning tires before the army reopened it.
NNA reported that protesters blocked at least one major road with burning tires.
The demonstrations prompted a security response across parts of the capital, with temporary army checkpoints set up along several streets.
The protests came after the framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel was announced in Washington.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said Lebanese authorities would be unable to impose the implementation of the agreement signed in Washington unless they moved, with American support, toward civil war.
His party has long rejected direct Israel-Lebanon talks.
Fadlallah said what happened in Washington was an attempt to disrupt the Islamabad path, referring to the initial agreement between the U.S. and Iran on halting the Middle East war, which includes Lebanon.
"Without the resistance, nothing will pass," he said, referring to Hezbollah.
The comments came as Hezbollah supporters demonstrated in Beirut against the framework agreement, while the Lebanese army moved to reopen roads blocked during the protests.
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