Berri says meetings with Aoun 'are always excellent' after brief encounter in Baabda Palace

BEIRUT — Parliament Nabih Berri said on Monday that meetings with President Joseph Aoun "are always excellent" after they both held a short meeting in Baabda Palace.

After receiving Berri at the Baabda Palace, Aoun held a meeting with him that lasted about fifteen minutes, according to local media outlets. After the meeting, Berri simply said that the meeting was "excellent as always," without elaborating.

Aoun, Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam are working toward formulating a unified Lebanese position on Israel, as the latter has recently increased its violations of the cease-fire agreement reached in November 2024, following more than 13 months of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

Last week, Aoun said that “negotiations with Israel are necessary in the context of regional crisis resolution,” adding that he supports indirect negotiations with the Israel, as was the case for the maritime border delineation in 2022.

The U.S. is reportedly considering drafting a new “work plan” for Lebanon, which would include guidance on the importance of direct negotiations with Israel to resolve issues related to border delineation and Israeli withdrawal from still-occupied positions. This roadmap would complement the one presented this summer by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and would be inspired by the Gaza agreement.

Regarding the negotiations, Salam told Asharq al-Awsat that "Aoun’s aim behind launching his indirect negotiation initiative with Israel is to urge the United States to intervene to save the indirect talks, which have stalled due to Israel’s refusal to commit to the cessation of hostilities stipulated in the agreement", the pan-Arab daily reported on Sunday.

Salam also bet on “the U.S. administration's positive response to the initiative launched by Aoun, to create an opening that could serve as a foundation for implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, as a basis for reaffirming the 1949 Armistice Agreement between Lebanon and Israel, including the commitment to delineating the international borders between the two countries.”

These developments come around one month and a half after the Lebanese government welcomed a plan prepared by the Lebanese army to disarm local non-state armed groups, mainly Hezbollah.