Speaker Nabih Berri has accused Israel of deliberately creating a scenario designed to lure Lebanon into war, saying “we will continue to exercise self-restraint.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat published on Monday, Berri said that the unprecedented Israeli attacks on Lebanon, mainly the South and the East, come “as part of efforts to lure us to war.”
“But we will not be dragged to an open war and we will continue to exercise self-restraint and to absorb the Israeli aggression that reached its peak in the past two days by turning most villages and towns situated south of the Litani river into dilapidated and uninhabitable areas.”
Berri slammed Israel for its "systematic destruction of dozens of towns in the South, whether those lying along the border with the occupied Palestinian territories, or those deeper” inside Lebanon.
He reiterated that Lebanon “will not be provoked and will not take the decision to expand the war.”
Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel across Lebanon's southern border since Oct. 8, a day after Hamas launched an attack on Israel that triggered Israel's war in Gaza and led to escalating regional tensions.
Hezbollah has been firing rockets and Israel launching airstrikes and artillery shells.
Berri told Asharq Al-Awsat that the international community was aware that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was threatening to expand the war in Gaza to southern Lebanon.
A source close to Berri’s Amal movement and Hezbollah said that the speaker was coordinating with US envoy Amos Hochstein to stop the war and implement Security Council Resolution 1701.
Berri's negotiations with Hochstein have received Hezbollah's "unconditional" support, the source added.
