Summary
- Berri claims Iran-US talks are the key to Israeli withdrawal
- Warns of potential confrontation among Lebanese
- Deal forsees Lebanese army taking control of territory
- Israeli military would gradually quit Lebanon
BEIRUT – Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key ally of Hezbollah, on Monday slammed a U.S.-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel, warning it could lead to attempts to divide Lebanese and said it would not be implemented.
In comments to the pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper, Berri described Iran-U.S. negotiations as the only realistic opportunity to secure Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and that any attempt to separate Lebanon from the U.S.-Iran track would prolong Israeli occupation.
But Lebanese president Joseph Aoun rejected any linking to the US -Iran deal stressing that no country including Iran is authorized to negotiate on behalf of Lebanon stressing that only Lebanon negotiates its future
Israel has occupied a swathe of southern Lebanon in a war with Hezbollah that began on March 2, when the group opened fire at Israel in solidarity with Tehran after it came under U.S.-Israeli attack.
The Lebanon war has been a central part of diplomacy towards ending the wider U.S.-Iran conflict. Tehran has insisted on a Lebanon ceasefire as part of its interim deal with Washington, while the United States has sponsored separate talks between the Lebanese and Israeli governments, which Lebanon has attended despite Hezbollah’s objections.
Israel has praised the agreement, signed by the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to Washington on Friday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying it allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.
Hezbollah, which has demanded Beirut quit its face-to-face talks with the Israeli government, has rejected the deal as a surrender to Israel.
BERRI DISMISSES LEBANON-ISRAEL AGREEMENT AS ‘DICTATES’
The agreement foresees the Lebanese military taking control of territory pending the verified disarmament of non-state groups — a reference to Hezbollah — saying this would enable the Israeli military “to progressively redeploy out of” Lebanon. It foresees the Lebanese army gradually assuming responsibility in “pilot zones”.
Berri, who is the head of the Amal Movement, a key ally of Iran described the agreement as “dictates”. Al-Akhbar quoted him as saying the most dangerous aspect potential for it to incite internal divisions and draw the Lebanese into a confrontation among themselves”.
The agreement “won’t be implemented”, al-Akhbar cited Berri as saying.
Many Lebanese leaders accused Berri of inciting civil war . Berri, who often acts as a key interlocutor for Hezbollah, maintains a close political and strategic alliance with Iran.
Waddah Sadek a prominent MP asserted that “those who handed over our territorial waters to the Israelis—and subsequently signed a humiliating surrender agreement with them in 2024—have no right to criticize the state. That state is doing everything possible to protect its people and reclaim its territory, after having lost it to Iran’s military proxies in Lebanon. You are the last people who should be speaking about patriotism.”
File photo Speaker Nabih Berri and the late Supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali hamanei in Tehran, Iran
The Lebanese administration headed by President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called for face-to-face talks with Israel early in the war despite strong objections from Hezbollah, reflecting deep divisions over its decision to join the conflict in support of Iran.
The Lebanese government has been pursuing a policy aimed at securing Hezbollah’s disarmament since last year, after the group was badly weakened during a previous war with Israel between 2023 and 2024.
Aoun, in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, said he hoped Washington would press Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
Aoun was invited to the White House and is expected to meet with Trump in July. Aoun aims at securing Lebanon’s sovereignty over all its territories and free it from all non-state militias as per UN resolutions 1559 and 1701.
Aoun reportedly has the backing of the majority of the Lebanese who are sick and tired of Hezbollah’s wars with Israel that destroyed the country.
(Reuters) /News Agencies
