BEIRUT, LEBANON — The Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, issued a decisive national declaration on Friday, calling for an immediate, comprehensive, and entirely unconditional ceasefire across the country. In a major policy intervention that shapes Lebanon's official bargaining position, the veteran statesman articulated that any potential repositioning of Hezbollah forces away from the highly strategic border zones must be executed in absolute synchronization with a total withdrawal of the Israeli Defense Forces from all newly and historically occupied Lebanese territories.
The comprehensive diplomatic framework was officially published by Lebanon’s state-aligned National News Agency. In the detailed text, Speaker Berri outlined a succession of foundational, non-negotiable structural principles designed to guide international mediators currently attempting to formalize a permanent resolution to the devastating conflict. Berri emphasized that the state of Lebanon will not accept any partial security arrangements that compromise national sovereignty, signaling to global actors that the cessation of hostilities must be handled as a balanced, reciprocal process rather than a unilateral concession.
The parliamentary leader stated unequivocally that any viable ceasefire framework must be fundamentally full and comprehensive in its operational scope, encompassing all active dimensions of the theater of war—specifically across all terrestrial coordinates, sovereign maritime waters, and domestic airspace. Furthermore, Berri demanded that the truce must be implemented entirely without any lingering preconditions imposed by external powers, and must explicitly forbid any further tactical destruction, systemic demolition, or localized degradation of Lebanon's remaining civilian public infrastructure and private residential properties.
Addressing one of the most contentious geopolitical sticking points of the international negotiations, Berri outlined the precise logistical parameters regarding the proposed relocation of armed groups. He insisted that the systematic withdrawal of Hezbollah’s paramilitary wings and heavy rocket infrastructure from the geographic zones situated directly south of the Litani River must be implemented simultaneously and in parallel with a verified Israeli military retreat from all sovereign Lebanese lands seized during the current conventional offensive.
"The operational reality is that Hezbollah’s strategic withdrawal from the immediate border regions south of the Litani River must proceed in absolute parallel with a corresponding, verified Israeli military withdrawal from the extensive domestic areas it has forcefully occupied during this conflict," Speaker Berri asserted in his official statement, drawing a firm line against any attempts to force Lebanese forces back while foreign troops remain dug into the country's southern hills.
The high-stakes political declaration from the legislative leader occurred against a backdrop of intense, United States-mediated diplomatic negotiations conducted behind closed doors. Multinational delegations are currently working under extreme pressure to secure a substantial extension of the pre-existing, highly volatile ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel, with the ultimate objective of transforming the temporary truce into a legally binding, long-term cessation of hostilities.
The active diplomatic timeline reveals the immense fragility of the current peace process. A brief, initial ten-day ceasefire originally took effect across the region on April 16. That baseline truce was subsequently rescued from collapse and extended twice by international consensus, with the most recent emergency prolongation scheduled to expire in mid-June. High-level bilateral talks continued this week within the State Department in Washington, D.C., where specialized Lebanese and Israeli diplomatic representatives reviewed the operational progress of the border monitoring teams and debated the structural terms of a potential third extension.
However, the reality on the ground continues to conflict sharply with the ongoing diplomatic efforts in Washington. Despite the formal existence of the international truce, localized Israeli airstrikes, heavy artillery bombardments, and aggressive forced evacuation directives have continued to plague various sectors of southern and eastern Lebanon. For its part, the command structure of Hezbollah has released a series of statements accusing the Israeli military establishment of committing hundreds of distinct, verified violations of the pre-existing ceasefire agreements, keeping frontline units in a state of constant, defensive mobilization.
The human toll of the relentless military campaign has reached catastrophic proportions, precipitating a massive humanitarian crisis that threatens to overwhelm regional aid agencies. Official demographic data compiled by Lebanese civil defense authorities and various United Nations agencies confirm that more than 1.1 million innocent civilians have been violently displaced from their homes since the sudden escalation of high-intensity conventional hostilities back in March.
The geographic footprint of the conflict highlights the immense scale of the territorial dispute. The state of Israel currently maintains active military control over multiple sectors within southern Lebanon—some of which have been held under occupation for decades, such as the disputed Shebaa Farms, while others were rapidly seized during the high-intensity border battles of 2023 and 2024.
During the current offensive, Israeli mechanized divisions advanced more than ten kilometers (approximately 6.2 miles) deep into sovereign Lebanese territory. Military historians note that this aggressive push marks the deepest, most extensive conventional ground incursion executed by the Israeli military since its formal withdrawal from southern Lebanon in the year 2000.
According to the latest epidemiological and security registries published by Lebanese health officials, the intense violence has claimed an immense toll. Since the opening salvos of the current offensive on March 2, more than 3,500 individuals have been killed in Israeli attacks across Lebanon, while over 10,000 citizens have sustained various degrees of severe physical injury, leaving the nation's medical network in a state of total exhaustion as diplomats race against the mid-June deadline to prevent a return to full-scale warfare.
