BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament speaker, who is the most senior politician and a close ally of Hezbollah, said on Monday there could be no negotiations with Israel without a halt to the war that has raged on in southern Lebanon in spite of a ceasefire.
Nabih Berri’s comments, made as Israeli forces ordered residents out of four more villages in southern Lebanon, underline challenges facing US efforts to forge peace between the states which held rare, face-to-face talks last month.
Israel invaded Lebanon in March to root out Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group, which fired across the border in support of Tehran after the United States and Israel attacked Iran. Tehran says any deal to end the wider war must also halt fighting in Lebanon, though Washington says the issues are separate.
Israel and Lebanon agreed a ceasefire in mid-April which has since been extended into May. But while fighting has been diminished, it has not halted, with Israel maintaining an occupation of southern Lebanon and demolishing villages there, while Hezbollah has continued attacks on Israeli forces.
Berri told Lebanon’s An-Nahar newspaper the priority must be “stopping the war before any political track”, and that he rejected any negotiations without guarantees Israel would halt attacks, according to a summary of his comments released by his office.
The Israeli military on Monday issued a warning to residents of four villages beyond its self-proclaimed security zone to leave their homes immediately, accusing Hezbollah of breaching the ceasefire and saying it intended to act against it.
