BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, an ally of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, called on Sunday for dialogue over its weapons, days before the government is expected to approve an army plan to disarm the group.
Months after Hezbollah’s devastating war with Israel and under heavy US pressure, Lebanon’s government this month tasked the army with drawing up a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year.
Hezbollah strongly opposed the decision and Shiite ministers, including representatives from the group and Berri’s Amal Movement, withdrew from the last government session in protest.
“We reiterate that we are open to discussing the fate of those weapons... in a calm and consensual dialogue,” Berri, an influential Shiite leader, said in a speech commemorating the 1978 disappearance of Amal founder Musa Al-Sadr.
Lebanon’s ministers are set to meet again on Friday after receiving the army’s plan.
Berri criticized the government’s moves, which are based on a US proposal.
“What is proposed in the American paper goes beyond the principle of (a state) weapons monopoly, and rather appears as an alternative to the November ceasefire agreement,” he stated.
Hezbollah emerged heavily weakened from a devastating war with Israel that ended in a ceasefire signed in November.
Israel has kept up attacks in Lebanon despite the truce.
Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army said it carried out a strike on a site run by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported intense strikes in the area, where serious damage was recorded.
A later strike on a motorcycle killed one man, according to the NNA.
The agreement states that Hezbollah is to pull its fighters north of the Litani River, around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Israel.
Israel was to withdraw its troops from Lebanon but has kept them at five points it deems strategic, with Washington linking a full Israeli withdrawal with the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also suggested the two issues are linked.
Berri rejected holding a dialogue under “threats” that undermine the truce agreement.
Lebanon parliament speaker calls for dialogue over Hezbollah weapons
https://arab.news/5k7ga
Lebanon parliament speaker calls for dialogue over Hezbollah weapons
- Lebanon’s government this month tasked the army with drawing up a plan to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year
- Hezbollah strongly opposed the decision and Shiite ministers withdrew from the last government session in protest
Israeli forces open fire on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, no injuries reported
- Lebanese military said in a statement that Israeli violations of its sovereignty caused instability within the country and hindered its own forces from deploying in the south
JERUSALEM: Israeli military forces opened fire on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Sunday, in an incident the UN peacekeeping mission described as a serious violation.
None of the UN forces were reported wounded.
Israeli soldiers had opened fire on two suspects in the El Hamames area near the Israeli border, only later realizing that they were UN peacekeepers, the military said in a statement.
The military said the peacekeepers were misidentified due to poor weather conditions. The incident was under review, it said.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said the Israeli forces had fired from a Merkava tank positioned inside Lebanese territory toward the peacekeepers, who were on foot. Heavy machine gun fire landed five meters from the peacekeepers, who were forced to seek shelter, it said.
The Israeli tank withdrew after peacekeepers contacted the Israeli military through official channels, UNIFIL said.
UNIFIL called the incident a “serious violation” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which, among other provisions, states that no armed forces should be operating in southern Lebanon except the UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese military.
The Lebanese military said in a statement that Israeli violations of its sovereignty caused instability within the country and hindered its own forces from deploying in the south.
The Israeli military occupies five posts within Lebanon and frequently carries out airstrikes in the country’s south that it says are targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire last year that required the Lebanese militant group not to have any weapons in the south and for Israeli forces to fully withdraw from Lebanon.
Israel accuses Hezbollah of trying to rearm, while Lebanon’s government accuses Israel of violating the agreement by not withdrawing and continuing to carry out airstrikes.
