Parliament Speaker Nabih Berry with members of a ULCM delegation, July 30, 2024. (Credit: NNA)
The Speaker of the Parliament, Nabih Berri, has stated that the current conflict unfolding in Gaza and at the Lebanon-Israel border poses "a threat to the entire region."
"What is happening threatens the whole region. But despite its severity, we are not afraid for Lebanon and its future, because the guarantee of Lebanon lies in unity, the unity among its citizens in the country and the diaspora, and also adherence to Lebanon's strength and its legitimate rights to defend its land..." Berri emphasized during a meeting with a delegation from the Lebanese Cultural Union in the World (UCLM), at Ain al-Tineh. Abbas Fawaz, the global president of the organization, and Haidar Salman, the president of the UCLM office in Ivory Coast led the delegation.
Berri stressed the "need to exert political pressure on Israel to end its ongoing aggression on Gaza and Lebanon." He referred to the aggression as "repugnant to humanity," referencing the war that the Israeli state has been waging in Gaza for ten months.
Berri's comments come a few days after a strike hit a football field on Saturday in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Golan Heights occupied and annexed by Israel. The strike was attributed to Hezbollah by Israel, but the party has denied any responsibility for the attack, which killed 12 people, mostly children, prompting the Israeli cabinet to promise a "significant" response.
He reiterated Lebanon's commitment to respecting Resolution 1701, reminding that Israel has recorded over 33,000 violations of this resolution.