Nabih Berri:  We don't care about any lines and I refuse to negotiate  directly with Israel

The Speaker of the Lebanese House of Representatives and the leader of the "Amal" movement, Nabih Berri, defined his position on negotiations with the Israeli occupation, stressing that he is only in favor of indirect negotiations, and rejects any form of sitting at the same table with the Israelis.

In an interview with  the Lebanese newspaper Al-Joumhouria, Berri said, "I personally conducted long rounds of indirect negotiations with a large group of American delegates, the latest of whom was Amos Hochstein on the maritime border demarcation file, during which we reached an agreement, as well as on the issue of the disputed points on the Blue Line, and we were able to resolve most of them and only 5 or 6 points remained, as was the case during the periods of preparing Resolution 1701 with David Walsh, and we also have the 'mechanism' as a framework for negotiations."

Berri said he would not recognize the lines drawn by Israel, adding, "There are no yellow lines, no red lines, no green lines, no lines of any color, and we do not care about any lines, and we cannot accept that in any way."

He added that "the Israeli withdrawal from the southern areas to which it has infiltrated and seeks to consolidate its occupation must take place, and if it maintains its occupation, whether for the areas or sites or through zero lines that it draws, it means that every day it will smell the smell of resistance."

He continued: "This is Lebanese land, and Lebanon is not likely to detract from it by a single meter, if they insist on staying, they will face resistance and our history bears witness to this, we did not start from the beginning, and we did not resist like this for free, but through their occupation and aggressions, they are the ones who imposed resistance on us, and forced us to resist to liberate our land and preserve the sovereignty of our country, and nothing has changed for us, we are where we are in this position until the end of the occupation and its removal from our land."

Nabih Berri called on the residents of the southern villages to wait and not return to their homes, warning of possible "Israeli treachery" in light of the continued violations.

Israeli Minister of War vows to displace residents of dozens of villages in southern Lebanon

On the other hand,  Israeli Minister of War Yisrael Katz stepped his tone, vowing to evacuate the Israeli-occupied "Yellow Line" area in southern Lebanon and to displace the residents of 55 villages within the scope of the deployment of five Israeli military divisions.

"Israeli forces are currently deployed in a security zone in southern Lebanon, stretching up to 10 kilometers from the border, from the Mediterranean coast in the west to the foothills of Jabal al-Sheikh in the east," Katz said.

He claimed that the IDF was working from "this line to prevent attacks, such as cross-border raids, or anti-tank artillery fire."

Despite the civilian casualties in the Israeli strikes, Katz claimed that "the overarching goal of the campaign in Lebanon is to disarm Hezbollah, and to remove the threat from the northern settlements,"  calling for displacement.

The Lebanese government vows that "if its obligations (disarming Hezbollah) are not met, the IDF will do so by continuing military operations."

He acknowledged that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the military to continue operations "with full force, on the ground and in the air," including during the ceasefire period, allegedly to "protect Israeli forces and eliminate threats," and called for "the immediate destruction of any facility that threatens our forces, and any road suspected of containing explosives."

A fragile ceasefire... And continuous violations

US President Donald Trump had announced a 10-day ceasefire, after contacts with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the Israeli army continued its violations, targeting several areas in southern Lebanon, resulting in deaths and injuries, including medics, according to the Lebanese News Agency.

According to the latest official data, the Israeli aggression since March 2 has resulted  in 2,294 deaths and 7,544 injuries, in addition to more than one million displaced people.