Berri says no negotiations unless Israel withdraws, stops attacks
Lebanon has recently appointed a civilian, Former Lebanese Ambassador to the United States Simon Karam, to lead Lebanon's delegation to the ceasefire committee.
Speaker Nabih Berri, a staunch ally of Hezbollah, said the negotiations' priority must be a halt to the Israeli attacks and that Israel must show its readiness to withdraw from at least one position of the five hills it is occupying in south Lebanon.
"Only then can we continue the negotiations," Berri told local news portal Asas Media, in remarks published Friday.
"Without this (Israel's withdrawal and halt to attacks), it will be impossible for us to agree to proceed with the meetings."
Berri said that Lebanon has done its part of the ceasefire agreement - The Lebanese Army's deployment and Hezbollah's disarmament south of the Litani river. "But Israel has continued its daily attacks on the South," he added, accusing it of violating the ceasefire.
Asas Media said the return to the 1949 Armistice Agreement, with amendments like the disarmament of Hezbollah south of the Litani River, is a topic that would be discussed in the upcoming Mechanism meetings.
Berri said he fully supports the return to the Armistice Agreement, so does former PSP leader Walid Jumblat.
But Asas Media said Israel is not interested in peace, as much as it is interested in disarming Hezbollah south and east of the Litani to reassure the residents of north Israel.
Israel's demands are to turn the border region (three to five kilometers from the border) to an uninhabited zone. This would mean displacing the people of the border towns and villages with continuous strikes and a systematic destruction of the area, Asas Media said.
According to the news portal, Israel also wants to disarm Hezbollah south of the Awali River beyond the Litani. The Lebanese state would be responsible for the area north of the Awali river, the report said.
The Armistice Agreement was signed in March 1949. It ended the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and demarcated the border between Lebanon (and other Arab countries) and Israel. The agreement also required Israel to withdraw from occupied Lebanese territory.
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