Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the US-brokered security agreement with Lebanon as a historic achievement on Saturday, even as a far-right cabinet minister denounced it as a “big mistake”, Hezbollah rejected it outright, and Israel ordered its troops to prepare for an extended stay in the south.

“Yesterday we achieved a historic deal for the state of Israel after direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in a televised briefing.

“This is a blow to Iran and Hezbollah.”

But Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem declared the deal “null and void”, accusing the Lebanese government of surrendering sovereignty and making unilateral concessions.

The agreement, signed in Washington on Friday after five rounds of talks, includes a process aimed at disarming Hezbollah — a provision Qassem said crossed “all red lines” and effectively legitimised Israel’s military presence in Lebanon.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz backed that reading in practice if not in intent, instructing troops “to prepare for an extended stay” in southern Lebanon.

“There will be no redeployment by Israel in southern Lebanon, no withdrawal, as long as the terrorist organisation Hezbollah is not disarmed throughout Lebanon,” he said.

Within Netanyahu’s own cabinet, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir also broke ranks, writing on Telegram that the deal was “a big mistake” and that Lebanon could not be trusted to disarm Hezbollah.

“Only IDF soldiers will destroy Hezbollah, no other party will do it for us,” he said.

Israeli airstrikes meanwhile killed at least one person and wounded two others in the southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

The town lies outside the security zone Israel has designated for its continued military presence under the agreement.

Lebanon was drawn into the regional war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.