Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri underlined his commitment, “more than ever”, to the deployment of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in support of the Lebanese army in implementing UN Security Council resolution 1701.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said the peacekeeping force was a “witness to Israel’s aggression against Lebanon and violation of its air, land and sea sovereignty.”
UNIFIL “has become a part of us and it has been part of our people for over 45 years, since its deployment in the South in wake of the 1978 Israeli invasion,” he added.
Berri called for an end to the incitement against UNIFIL and an end to attempts to “harm our relations with the international forces.”
On reports that a deal is being discussed to implement resolution 1701 in return for the election of a president who is allied to Hezbollah, Berri said: “We will not sacrifice a meter of the South or Lebanese territories to obtain the highest position in state.”
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has speculated that such a deal was in the works.
Moreover, Berri revealed that the outgoing US ambassador to Beirut had revealed to him that US President Joe Biden's energy security adviser Amos Hochstein will be visiting Lebanon in mid-January to mediate between it and Israel over their shared land border in implementation of resolution 1701.
“We have always been ready to implement the resolution. Israel has been the one impeding its implementation since the day it was announced,” Berri declared.
The resolution was issued in 2006 to end a war between Hezbollah and Israel.
Berri said the implementation begins with Israel’s pullout from an area in Ras al-Naqoura that it occupied before its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000.
Israel must also withdraw from the Shebaa Farms, Kfar Shouba hills and the Lebanese section of the town of Ghajar, he demanded. It must also cease its violations of Lebanon’s airspace.
Berri expressed his concern that Israel may intensify its attacks on southern Lebanon in an attempt to lure Hezbollah into an open war.
He vowed that Lebanon will not be dragged into a war.
“We have informed foreign envoys, who have visited Lebanon to warn it against getting lured into a war, to visit Tel Aviv and pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his chief of staff to stop their violations against Lebanon and their war on Gaza,” he said.
