Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key Hezbollah ally, on Monday criticized a U.S.-brokered agreement between Lebanon and Israel, warning it could sow division among Lebanese and asserting 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 that began on March 2, when Hezbollah attacked 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 Friday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying it allows Israeli forces to continue to occupy southern Lebanon if Hezbollah does not disarm.
