Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh, March 5, 2024. (Credit: Illustrative photo by Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Thursday that it is “unacceptable” for Israel to extend its occupation of southern Lebanon beyond the Feb. 18 deadline or to keep its forces stationed indefinitely at several strategic points, as Tel Aviv has informed the United States.
Speaking after meetings with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson and U.S. General Jasper Jeffers, the chairman of the cease-fire monitoring committee, Berri said Washington had relayed Israel’s plans to him. Jeffers had been in Tel Aviv the previous day.
"The Americans have informed me that the Israeli occupation will withdraw [its forces] on Feb. 18 from the villages it still occupies, but it will remain in five [strategic] points. I informed them — on my behalf, on behalf of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister judge Nawaf Salam — that we categorically reject this," said Berri.
France has proposed that some troops from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), including French soldiers, be deployed in southern Lebanon to facilitate a "complete and definitive" Israeli withdrawal, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Thursday. "We have worked to formulate a proposal that can meet Israel’s security expectations as it had planned to stay longer,” Barrot continued. “We proposed that certain UNIFIL contingents, including the French, could take over these observation points,” he added, noting that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres supports the plan. “It is now up to us to convince the Israelis that this solution can provide for a complete and definitive withdrawal,” Barrot concluded.
A truce between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on Nov. 27 after more than a year of hostilities, including two months of full-scale war. Israel launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon in late September last year. Under the cease-fire agreement, the Lebanese Army must deploy alongside U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, while Israeli forces must withdraw over a 60-day period ending Jan. 26. However on Jan. 26, the withdrawal was postponed to Feb. 18.
Earlier Thursday, President Joseph Aoun, speaking from the Baabda Presidential Palace, said, "Lebanon is continuing contacts to force the Israeli army to withdraw on Feb. 18" from areas it still occupies in the south.
"I refused to discuss any deadline to extend the withdrawal period. It is the Americans' responsibility to enforce the withdrawal. Otherwise, they will have caused the biggest setback for the government," said Berri, referring to the cabinet formed last Saturday by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
Berri also said Hezbollah was fully abiding by its commitments under the cease-fire and that it was therefore "unacceptable" for Israeli forces to "continue exercising freedom of movement" inside Lebanon.
Defense Strategy
"If the occupation remains, the days are between us,” Berri said, adding that security south of the Litani River “is the responsibility of the Lebanese state, as the army is doing its full duty" by deploying there since the start of the cease-fire.
"As for the north of the Litani, this is up to the Lebanese and a dialogue table that discusses a defense strategy," he added, alluding to the ongoing debate over Hezbollah’s weapons. Both the Israeli army and the U.N. Security Council have insisted that only the Lebanese Army should have a monopoly on arms.
Hezbollah’s leadership, currently engaged in an internal debate over the group’s military and political future, has also called for a discussion on a defense strategy. Last month, newly appointed Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said, "The plans to use the resistance and its weapons must be addressed within the framework of a defense strategy and through dialogue aimed at protecting the strength, sovereignty, and independence of Lebanon."
Berri also addressed the upcoming funeral of Hezbollah’s former secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in an Israeli strike at the end of September. His successor, Hashem Safieddine, was killed a week later in a strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
"The burial of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah will be carried out calmly, without gunfire [into the air]," Berri said, adding that the army and security forces would ensure order. The two leaders are set to be buried on Feb. 23.