Senior Lebanese official slams US-brokered deal with Israel, warns of divisions

BEIRUT, June 29 - Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key ally of Hezbollah, on Monday slammed a U.S.-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel, warning it could lead to attempts to divide Lebanese and said it would not be implemented.

In comments to Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper, Berri described Iran-U.S. negotiations as the only realistic opportunity to secure Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and that any attempt to separate Lebanon from the U.S.-Iran track would prolong Israeli occupation.

Israel has occupied a swathe of southern Lebanon in a war with Hezbollah that began on March 2, when the group opened fire at Israel in solidarity with Tehran after it came under U.S.-Israeli attack.

The Lebanon war has been a central part of diplomacy towards ending the wider U.S.-Iran conflict. Tehran has insisted on a Lebanon ceasefire as part of its interim deal with Washington, while the United States has sponsored separate talks between the Lebanese and Israeli governments, which Beirut has attended despite Hezbollah's objections.

Israel has praised the agreement, signed by the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to Washington on Friday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying it allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.

Hezbollah, which has demanded Beirut quit its face-to-face talks with the Israeli government, has rejected the deal as a surrender to Israel.

BERRI DISMISSES LEBANON-ISRAEL AGREEMENT AS 'DICTATES'

The agreement foresees the Lebanese military taking control of territory pending the verified disarmament of non-state groups -- a reference to Hezbollah -- saying this would enable the Israeli military "to progressively redeploy out of" Lebanon. It foresees the Lebanese army gradually assuming responsibility in "pilot zones".

Berri, head of the Shi'ite Muslim Amal Movement, described the agreement as "dictates". Al-Akhbar quoted Berri as saying the most dangerous aspect of the agreement was not only its political content, but "the potential for it to incite internal divisions and draw the Lebanese into a confrontation among themselves".

The agreement "won't be implemented", al-Akhbar cited him as saying.

The Lebanese administration headed by the Maronite Christian President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, a Sunni Muslim, called for face-to-face talks with Israel early in the war despite strong objections from Shi'ite Hezbollah, reflecting deep divisions over its decision to join the conflict in support of Iran.

The Beirut government has been pursuing a policy aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament since last year, after the group was badly weakened during a previous war with Israel in 2024.

Aoun, in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday, said he hoped Washington would press Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

Israeli forces seized a self-declared security zone stretching into southern Lebanon during the war, citing the need to shield northern Israel from Hezbollah attacks.

The Israeli military said it destroyed a 200-meter (656-ft)-long Hezbollah tunnel in the south overnight. It also said it had struck three Hezbollah command centres in southern Lebanon on Sunday in response to violations of a ceasefire by Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, in a statement on Monday, said it has adhered to the ceasefire "until now", and that it reserved the right "to defend its homeland and its people". REUTERS