Efforts to resolve the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have for the first time entered the negotiations phase.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri received a written US proposal that was followed by discussions with American and Hezbollah officials. The Iran-backed party has tasked its ally Berri with the negotiations.
Lebanon is expected to reply to the US proposal “very soon” with a written message of its own that includes its reservations.
Berri denied to Asharq Al-Awsat that the US proposal included any guarantee for the freedom of movement of the Israeli military inside Lebanon.
The Americans and others know that this is unacceptable and not open for discussion. “There can be no undermining of our sovereignty,” stressed Berri.
He also denied that the proposal had suggested the deployment of NATO or other forces in Lebanon.
Another “unacceptable” point for Lebanon, continued Berri, is the formation of a committee that would oversee the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 that helped end the July 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel and that calls for southern Lebanon to be free of all weapons outside state control.
Berri asserted that a current mechanism to oversee the implementation of the resolution is already available, a reference to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) that has been monitoring the implementation since 2006.
Regardless of the reservations, the speaker emphasized that the discussions are going ahead positively.
Moreover, he remarked that US envoy Amos Hochstein’s next visit to Lebanon “hinges on progress in the negotiations.”
Asked about Israel’s air strikes on his hometown of Tebnine and the regions of al-Ghobeiry and Bourj al-Barajneh in Beirut where he enjoys popular support, he replied: “It seems that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu resorts to force when he wants a concession. But he doesn’t know who he is dealing with, and such actions don’t work with us.”
