Berri accuses Israel of ‘disrupting Lebanon’s serious commitment to implementing the cease-fire’

BEIRUT - Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday accused Israel of wanting to “disrupt the country’s serious commitment to implementing the [Nov. 27] cease-fire” by continuing to carry out attacks on Lebanon.

“What Israel did yesterday and throughout the past weeks is an open attempt to disrupt Lebanon’s serious commitment, which has done what was required of it in terms of implementing the cease-fire, while Israel continues to violate the sovereignty of Lebanon and the Lebanese people, as well as international legitimacy resolutions,” Berri said in a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency.

Berri also stated that he “followed the evolution of the situation on the ground in the south in light of Israel’s continued aggression and its violation of the cease-fire and Resolution 1701, which culminated on Sunday with intensive raids and attacks on large areas of Lebanon, particularly in Kawthariyet al-Siyyad, Houla, Arnoun, the villages of Iqlim al-Tuffah, and the hills of Mount Rihan, causing several martyrs and wounded.”

Berri also contacted the army’s commander, Rodolphe Haykal, who kept him informed about the Israeli attacks. The speaker also extended condolences to the soldiers who were killed in Breikeh (Nabatieh), as well as to the civilian martyrs. Three Lebanese soldiers were killed and five civilians injured on Sunday when ammunition that was being transported in a Lebanese army engineering department truck exploded, according to the army and reports from L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south. The circumstances of this explosion are not yet clear.

The Israeli army continues to strike Lebanon almost daily, mainly in the south, despite the cease-fire that took effect at the end of November. Since that date, at least 146 people have been killed in Israeli strikes and attacks in Lebanon, according to our count. The U.N. has reported 71 civilian deaths.