President Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Baabda on Oct. 20, 2025. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Parliament Speaker Nabih BerrI arrived Wednesday morning at the presidential palace in Baabda, where he is scheduled to meet with President Joseph Aoun.
The two men are at odds over the path forward to achieve a lasting cease-fire in southern Lebanon and to end the war that resumed on March 2 between Hezbollah and Israel, in the wake of the conflict triggered by Washington against Tehran.
Joseph Aoun recently traveled to the United States for a summit with President Donald Trump aimed at consolidating the framework agreement reached during direct talks between Beirut and Tel Aviv, in order to organize the Israeli withdrawal, beginning with the establishment of pilot zones where the Lebanese Army is to disarm Hezbollah.
The Parliament speaker, whose Shiite Amal movement is allied with Hezbollah, is not optimistic about the concrete results of the agreement reached at the end of June under American sponsorship. Opposed to direct negotiations, he points to the ongoing demolitions and Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.
In an interview with the media outlet Asas, he highlighted his good relations with Saudi Arabia and Syria, emphasizing that Beirut needs "tripartite sponsorship" from Riyadh, Washington, and Tehran—not to draw closer to one camp at the expense of another.
