Berri: Lebanese Army's will not be used to 'service discord'

BEIRUT — Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to the cease-fire with Israel, marking the first anniversary of the attrition war between Hezbollah and Israel. He also criticized recent remarks by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and urged authorities to compensate those affected by the war.

"We reaffirm our commitment to the cease-fire agreement to which Lebanon, the government, and the Resistance [Hezbollah] adhered from the first moments of its implementation on Nov. 27 of last year," Berri said in a statement.

"Israel continues to violate this cease-fire and respects none of the obligations stipulated in the agreement regarding the withdrawal from occupied territories, the release of Lebanese prisoners or the deployment of the Lebanese Army with the support of UNIFIL in the region south of the Litani River," he added.

Hezbollah opened a "support front" in southern Lebanon on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. The war with Israel escalated in September 2024, with heavy bombing of Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon, as well as the assassination of the former Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on Sept. 27, among many others of the party's command.

Response to Barrack's controversial comments

Berri also condemned statements made Monday by Barrack, calling them "unacceptable in both form and substance and contradictory to what he had previously said." He added that "an official Lebanese position on this matter should be released soon."

Barrack told Sky News Arabia that Beirut’s efforts on Hezbollah’s disarmament amounted to "words, without any tangible action," and described the situation in Lebanon as "very difficult," asserting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "cares neither for borders nor red lines."

Barrack also said, "We're going to arm them [Lebanese Army] so they can fight Israel? I don't think so. So, you're arming them so they can fight their own people, Hezbollah."

In response, Berri said: "We place all our hopes in the Lebanese Army to defend our land and our sovereignty and to preserve our civil peace in the face of any aggression targeting Lebanon. The army will never be Israel’s border guard. Its arsenal will not serve discord."

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also expressed surprise at Barrack's comments, stressing that his government is committed to respecting the ministerial declaration.

He also called on the Lebanese government "to honor its commitments as set out in the ministerial declaration, particularly regarding the immediate payment of compensation to owners of houses damaged or destroyed" by the latest conflict with Israel.

Berri also paid tribute to the father and three children killed in an Israeli drone strike in Bint Jbeil on Sunday, as well as to residents of all the villages from across Lebanon affected by the war.

"Israeli aggression against the south must serve to raise awareness among all Lebanese that Israel’s [attacks] do not target any one category, region or community, but the entirety of Lebanon and all its people, and that resistance to this aggression is a shared national responsibility," he added.

Meanwhile, Berri met with Brigadier General Patrick Gauchat, head of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO, a U.N. agency created after the first Arab-Israeli war), according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA). Discussions focused on the situation on the ground, particularly in southern Lebanon, where few incidents have been reported since the double Israeli strike in Bint Jbeil that killed multiple civilians.