Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berry, at his residence in Ain al-Tineh, March 5, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/ L'Orient-Le Jour)
Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that the next 24 hours will be decisive in trying to reach a diplomatic solution between Israel and Hezbollah, who have been at loggerheads since Oct. 8, 2023, the day after the outbreak of the Gaza war between the Palestinian movement Hamas and Israel.
In a statement to the London-based Arabic-language daily Asharq al-Awsat, the leader of the Amal Movement, an ally of Hezbollah, said he was making "serious efforts" with international parties, including the United States, to end the recent Israeli escalation in Lebanon.
Berri added that intensive contacts were being conducted in coordination with caretaker Prime Minister Nagib Mikati, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, "in which influential international parties participated," the daily said. He also expressed hope that these contacts would be successful "because there is no other way to avoid war and other tragedies."
The Speaker of the Parliament also responded negatively to a question about the possibility of Hezbollah accepting the principle of the separation of the military fronts of Lebanon and Gaza, referring to what had been agreed with the American envoy Amos Hochstein during his previous visits to Lebanon over the past year. This is, according to him, "the only available and viable solution."
The Biden administration is working on a new initiative that could lead to a temporary cease-fire in Lebanon and the resumption of negotiations on a hostage deal and a cease-fire in Gaza, according to senior U.S. and Israeli officials, Israeli media outlet Walla reports. In a similar vein, Reuters news agency reports that the United States is leading a new diplomatic effort aimed at ending hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon, linking the two conflicts under a single initiative.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
