Hezbollah issued a statement on the anniversary of what it called the "agreement of humiliation and shame" on May 17, which read: "The 43rd anniversary of the agreement of humiliation and shame of May 17, 1983, comes amid extremely dangerous Lebanese-regional circumstances, driven by the escalating US-Israeli aggression against our region and our country, and with the Zionist enemy continuing to occupy our land, pursuing crimes of killing, destruction, and bulldozing of parts of our country, particularly in the South, alongside the complete violation of our airspace and waters, and the rolling assassinations of civilians and resistance fighters from our national family. Amid attempts to reproduce something more dangerous and deviant than the May 17 agreement through talk of a 'complete and comprehensive' peace agreement between the Lebanese authorities and the Zionist entity—the enemy of the land, people, culture, and history—the Lebanese authorities would have drifted far away, thrown history's lessons and morals to the wind, absolved the enemy of its aggression and occupation, and treated it as a peaceful, recognized entity, in explicit, clear, and flagrant violation of the Lebanese constitution and laws, and with a complete disavowal of Lebanon's history, culture, the sacrifices of its sons, the steadfastness and resilience of its people, and the greatness of its resistance." Hezbollah emphasized the following: First: Hezbollah completely rejects any foreign American or non-American dictates, pressures, and tutelage that attempt to forcibly impose on Lebanon a course and destiny that undermine its sovereignty, independence, and dignity, and conflict with the most basic national constants and principles that all Lebanese are supposed to share. What the enemy's leaders openly declare regarding their settlement projects in Lebanese territories confirms the enemy's steadfast ambitions in our land, water, and natural resources, and that it seeks to strip Lebanon of its points of strength and resources. Lebanon's acceptance of direct negotiations serves to reinforce and increase Israeli gains at the expense of Lebanon and its people. Second: We call on the Lebanese authorities not to go too far in deviant choices with the enemy, due to the grave repercussions this matter has on stability in Lebanon as a state and society, and we call on them to stop the series of gratuitous concessions and the scenario of squandering rights and the nation's dignity, as they are entrusted with this by virtue of the law. We demand that they commit to the national interest first, and abandon the illusions of the possibility of reaching a peace agreement with this usurping, greedy, and occupying enemy. Third: The big question that the Lebanese in general, and the people of the South in particular, are asking the Lebanese authorities today is: What has their engagement in this concessionary path since the November 27, 2024 ceasefire agreement achieved for Lebanon's benefit? What did their sinful decisions on August 5 and August 7 achieve, alongside the acceptance of civilian participation in the mechanism, and then proceeding to direct negotiations? And what has Lebanon and its people reaped from this path other than further pressure, concessions, aggression, and destruction? The authorities embarked on this path under the pretext that it is the only way to stop the ceasefire and halt Israeli attacks, despite the constitutional violations marring this choice and the absence of national consensus around it. Today, after a month of proceeding with this approach, what have they achieved for Lebanon? Instead of retreating from this choice, they are preparing to head towards a political and security path, to increase the series of gratuitous concessions they present to the enemy, which responds after every negotiation round by escalating its attacks, expanding the circle of its targeting of Lebanese villages and towns, continuing to kill the Lebanese, destroying their homes, and violating Lebanese sovereignty, to the point where many Lebanese have come to see the extension of the ceasefire through this path as an extension of their continued killing and a cover for the aggression against them and their homeland. Fourth: We call on the Lebanese authorities to cooperate within the framework of national consensus in order to achieve the national constants represented by ensuring the complete withdrawal of the enemy from all Lebanese territories, bringing a final and complete halt to the aggression, liberating our heroic prisoners, securing the immediate return of our people to their villages and towns with dignity and pride, and rebuilding without restrictions, conditions, or obstacles of any kind. Fifth: Hezbollah affirms that the Zionist occupation will never settle on our land in the presence of this valiant resistance, its heroic fighters, its sacrificing and daring people, and all national forces and honorable free people of this country from all sects and regions." The statement concluded: "The dawn of liberation, freedom, and complete independence will break, sooner or later, and Lebanon will return sovereign, free, and independent."