BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday slammed a US-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel, warning it could lead to attempts to divide Lebanese and said it would not be implemented.
Israeli officials suggested the agreement would move forward in the coming days, but there were no immediate reports of any aspects of the deal being implemented on the ground.
Israeli artillery shelled an area near the borderin southern Lebanon on Monday, according to the Lebanese state news agency, and the sound of a drone buzzed over Beirut, Reuters reporters said.
In comments to Lebanon’s al-Akhbar newspaper,Berri described Iran-US talks as the only realistic opportunity to secure Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. He said any attempt to separate Lebanon from the US-Iran track would prolong Israeli occupation.Berri, head of the Amal Movement, described the agreement as ‘diktats’.
Al-Akhbar quoted Berri as saying the most dangerous aspects of the agreement included ‘the potential for it to incite internal divisions and draw the Lebanese into a confrontation among themselves’.
‘Deploy up to the border’ Meanwhile, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun also met with the US Central Command (Centcom) chief on Monday, telling him that he was committed to extending the state’s controlthroughitsmilitary up to the border with Israel, where Iran-backed group Hezbollah maintains a strong presence.
He reaffirmed to Admiral Brad Cooper ‘theLebanese state’s determination to extend its authority, through its armed forces, to the southern border’, the presidency said, adding that the pair discussed preparations for implementing a frameworkagreement with Israel and the US Deal discussed The Lebanese army said its chief also met with the Centcom chief on Monday to discuss the implementation of the US-LebanonIsrael agreement.
Lebanon’s Rodolphe Haykal received Admiral Brad Cooper, with the discussions addressing ‘the latest developments in Lebanon and the region’, a Lebanese army statement said.
Haykal and Cooper also discussed ‘the importance of successfully implementing the security annex of the framework agreement’, as well as ways of strengthening future cooperation, the statement added.
‘Right to self-defence’ Hezbollah on Monday said it reserved the right to self-defence after several Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon the day before, accusing Israel of a ‘blatant violation of the ceasefire’.
Senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati said on Monday the accord was ‘effectively dead’ already.
He said there was ‘no reason to mobilise people in the streets or take any action’ as there was no way it could be implemented, he told Lebanese Al Jadeed TV.
Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike hit the country’s south.
‘Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike targeting the area between the southern Lebanese towns of Qantara and Deir Seryan, the state-run National News Agency said.-Agencies