Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berry during a speech in September 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT – Lebanese Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri warned that Lebanon must not "allow itself to be drawn into" a war that follows Israel's "timing," as southern Lebanon is the scene of daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and Hezbollah in the midst of the war in Gaza.
In an interview with the daily al-Joumhouriya, published on Monday, Berri called on Lebanon not to allow itself to be drawn "into what Israel aspires to, a war according to its own timing." "These attempts are part of Israel's drive to widen the circle of its aggression against Lebanon, which now includes areas far from the border," he added, pointing to the "deliberate targeting of civilians." Several Israeli strikes, despite mainly being concentrated on villages close to the border, hit areas some 30 kilometers from the Blue Line, notably in the Jezzine region.
Berri also pointed out that "the proposals that Israel wants to promote concerning arrangements in the border area, and which are in its interest (such as the withdrawal of Hezbollah northwards to the Litani River), are rejected by Lebanon."
The Speaker of Parliament also warned against "Israel's attempts to widen the war," saying that they wanted to take advantage of the "American and international support it enjoys for the genocide it is committing in the Gaza Strip." Finally, he recalled that he had conveyed to "all envoys, including the American envoy Amos Hochstein, his commitment to Resolution 1701 (which put an end to the war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006) and the need to force Israel to implement it."
During a visit to Beirut two weeks ago, Hochstein proposed, according to information obtained by L'Orient-Le Jour, a three-stage approach to calm the situation in southern Lebanon. Failing an immediate cessation of hostilities, which Hezbollah links to an end to the war in the Palestinian enclave, the American envoy suggests limiting the extent of fighting to an eight-kilometer strip on both sides of the border and thus returning to the rules of engagement established at the start of the conflict. After the cessation of hostilities, a land border between the two countries will be negotiated to resolve the 13 points in dispute, as well as the question of the Shebaa Farms.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.