Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament and a Hezbollah ally, claims Lebanon will “continue to exercise self-restraint” when it comes to the border skirmishes with Israel, and will not allow them to escalate into an all-out war.
Nabih Berri © Libanews
Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament and a Hezbollah ally, claims Lebanon will “continue to exercise self-restraint” when it comes to the border skirmishes with Israel, and will not allow them to escalate into an all-out war.
In an interview with the Saudi-owned London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, Berri accuses Israel of deliberately attempting to drag Lebanon into a war, and lambasts Jerusalem for the “systematic destruction of dozens of towns in the south [of Lebanon],” turning them into “uninhabitable areas.”
Israel has been responding since October 7 to attacks by the Hezbollah terror group that have driven tens of thousands of civilians from the border area.
Nabih Berri, the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament and a Hezbollah ally, claims Lebanon will “continue to exercise self-restraint” when it comes to the border skirmishes with Israel, and will not allow them to escalate into an all-out war.
In an interview with the Saudi-owned London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, Berri accuses Israel of deliberately attempting to drag Lebanon into a war, and lambasts Jerusalem for the “systematic destruction of dozens of towns in the south [of Lebanon],” turning them into “uninhabitable areas.”
Israel has been responding since October 7 to attacks by the Hezbollah terror group that have driven tens of thousands of civilians from the border area.
Berri has been coordinating with US envoy Amos Hochstein to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict by implementing UN Resolution 1701, according to sources close to Berri’s Amal movement and Hezbollah quoted by Asharq Al-Awsat.
The resolution, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006, called for a permanent ceasefire between Hezbollah, and Israel, and established a demilitarized zone between Israel’s northern border and the Litani River in Lebanon. Israel says Hezbollah has never abided by the resolution.
Berri has received Hezbollah’s “unconditional” support in his negotiations with Hochstein, the paper reports.
Another prominent Lebanese politician, Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, a Maronite Christian and former Hezbollah ally until 2022, took a swipe at the Shiite terror movement yesterday, saying that “those who think they can defeat Israel and at the same time control other citizens are delusional,” according to a report in the Lebanese news site Naharnet.
“We are not obliged to remain entangled in a war in Gaza that we don’t know when it will end nor its impact and consequences for Lebanon,” Bassil said.
An apparent drone attack - claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia - hit central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, killing one man and slightly wounding four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told his U.S. counterpart that military operations in the Gaza Strip have created conditions that would enable a hostage deal to be reached, Gallant's office said on Wednesday.
A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the Middle East was briefly interrupted on Wednesday when two protesters stood with signs and yelled for the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
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