BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri said on Friday he would agree to the withdrawal of the Iran-backed group from southern Lebanon if Israeli troops simultaneously left territory they occupy in the country.
In written comments distributed by his office, Berri criticized the US-mediated ceasefire framework announced this week as unfair, saying it should have included an “unconditional ceasefire by land, sea and air.”
He added that he “agrees to... Hezbollah’s withdrawal from south of the Litani River, in parallel with the Israeli withdrawal from the areas it occupied.”
Iran also reaffirmed support for its Lebanese ally and demanded Israel withdraw from southern Lebanon, underscoring complications facing an interim deal to end the broader conflict between the US and Iran.
The latest round of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel erupted at the start of March, two days after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran. Hezbollah said its actions were in support of Tehran.
“This war will end only when it ends in Lebanon as well,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Lebanese TV station Al-Mayadeen late on Thursday.
“The end of the war on Lebanon must be accompanied by the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they have occupied,” he said.
The comments came after Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected a US-brokered pact between Israel and the Lebanese government to halt the fighting in Lebanon.
Israel has kept up strikes in southern Lebanon, and has said its forces would not withdraw or halt operations in the country amid increasing friction with the US.
Hezbollah said on Friday it had carried out two attacks on Israeli troops in south Lebanon, including near the recently captured Beaufort Castle, while Lebanese security services said Israeli airstrikes hit towns across southern Lebanon.
