BEIRUT — Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that Lebanon is still committed to a "cease-fire with Israel and the implementation of U.N. Resolution 1701."
Resolution 1701 was reached between Israel and Lebanon in 2006 after the July war, granting explicit authority to UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army along the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel.
Hezbollah and Israel have been fighting along the Lebanese-Israeli border since October amid the war in Gaza. A week ago, Israel started carrying out intensive airstrikes across Lebanon, killing almost a thousand people. Last week, the United States and France proposed an immediate 21-day truce but Israel immediately refused the proposal.
French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, arrived in Beirut on Sunday evening and discussed the war between Hezbollah and Israel and the ongoing presidential vacuum in Lebanon with Lebanese officials on Tuesday.
“We informed the French minister of [our] commitment to the contents of the 10-nation appeal calling for a cease-fire and the immediate implementation of Resolution 1701 on the bases that were agreed upon with the American envoy Amos Hochstein," Berri said after important meetings with Barrot, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun.
Earlier on Monday, Mikati echoed Berri's position as he emphasized Lebanon's position to "implement the call issues by Western and Arab countries for a cease-fire and the beginning of discussions to implement U.N. Resolution 1701."
In response to a question, Berri clarified that communication with Hezbollah is ongoing and that the party is “not far from this approach," adding that he previously agreed with Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on this initiative.
Nasrallah was assassinated in a violent Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Suburbs of Beirut on Friday.
Berri also addressed the presidential elections, saying that he strongly rejects linking the cease-fire to the election process.
"No one has anything to do with the election of the president of the republic and it is not allowed to interfere in it, because it is a sovereign issue. Although we welcome any assistance, we reject any interference and attempts to dictate," Berri said.
Lebanon has been without a president for almost two years. Several parliamentary electoral sessions failed to elect a new president.
