Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: US Proposal Does Not Guarantee Israeli Freedom of Movement in Lebanon

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut on Thursday. (Parliament's media office)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut on Thursday. (Parliament's media office)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: US Proposal Does Not Guarantee Israeli Freedom of Movement in Lebanon

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut on Thursday. (Parliament's media office)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut on Thursday. (Parliament's media office)

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.”



Gaza Hunger Crisis Could Return If Israeli Aid Restrictions Continue, Head of UN Relief Agency Says

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini adjusts his glasses during a press conference on the situation in the Palestinian Gaza strip, at the United Nations offices in Geneva on March 10, 2025. (AFP)
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini adjusts his glasses during a press conference on the situation in the Palestinian Gaza strip, at the United Nations offices in Geneva on March 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Gaza Hunger Crisis Could Return If Israeli Aid Restrictions Continue, Head of UN Relief Agency Says

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini adjusts his glasses during a press conference on the situation in the Palestinian Gaza strip, at the United Nations offices in Geneva on March 10, 2025. (AFP)
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini adjusts his glasses during a press conference on the situation in the Palestinian Gaza strip, at the United Nations offices in Geneva on March 10, 2025. (AFP)

There is a risk that Gaza experiences another hunger crisis if Israel continues to block aid, the head of the UN Palestinian relief agency (UNRWA) in Gaza said on Monday, warning the situation is quickly deteriorating.

Israel cut aid flows of food, medicine and fuel imports earlier this month, a move it said was designed to pressure Hamas in ceasefire talks. On Sunday, it announced an electricity cut, which aid groups say would deprive Gazans of clean water.

"I think the more we go ahead (with aid blockages), the more we will see the impact increasing on the population. And obviously, the risk ... is that we go back to situation we experienced months ago about deepening hunger in the Gaza Strip," said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

"Whatever the intent is, it's clearly a weaponization of humanitarian aid into Gaza," he told reporters. "We have seen the situation is deteriorating very, very quickly."

In the same press briefing in Geneva, he described the agency's financial situation as "critical and precarious".

Israel, which has long alleged that UNRWA has ties to Hamas, barred the agency from its territory in January.

Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva said earlier on Monday that it is actively encouraging UN agencies and others to take over UNRWA's work in Gaza.

Lazzarini said the agency was subject to a disinformation campaign and that it has not seen any other groups replacing it in Gaza so far.