Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) meets with US special envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut on Oct. 21, 2024. (Credit: AFP)
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Sunday with former Progressive Socialist Party Walid Joumblatt at Clemenceau. According to the media outlet Lebanon 24, which is close to the prime minister, the two men discussed "the latest developments" in the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. Mikati left Clemenceau at the end of the meeting without making a statement.
Earlier, the American daily Washington Post reported, quoting the prime minister, that his priority was "to implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701," to end the war in Lebanon. This U.N. decision provides for the withdrawal of Hezbollah to the north of the Litani River in exchange for an end to Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty. It also calls for the implementation of its predecessor, 1559, which provides for the disarmament of militias in Lebanon.
In a statement to the same American media outlet, Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri called for a cease-fire "yesterday, today and tomorrow." Asked by journalist David Ignatius about Iran's influence in Lebanon, the speaker responded: "Iran helps Hezbollah, the latter does not hide it. But if the United States helped Lebanon, we would not take orders from Tehran." In a statement released later, Berri denied the remarks attributed to him, claiming to have said: "Iran finances Hezbollah and you support Israel."
The leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, a long-time ally of Hezbollah, told the same journalist that "many Lebanese are happy to see Hezbollah's veto broken." And he added: "However, for us, religious diversity in Lebanon is sacred and must be maintained with equal prerogatives for all."