Nabih Berri: Refusal to Extend UNIFIL Forces the Search for an Alternative International Force in the South

According to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, speaking to Al-Sharq al-Awsat, the United States' insistence on rejecting the renewal of the international emergency forces operating in Lebanon—UNIFIL—opens the door to exploring an alternative formula ensuring continued UN presence in the south.

Berri suggested that the alternative could be an international force backed by both European and American consensus, deployed across southern Lebanon under the UN banner, emphasizing that the absence of such a framework could lead to the loss of the legal basis necessary for sustaining international legitimacy and its role in supporting the Lebanese Army in asserting state authority over all of Lebanon’s territory.

He stressed that this role remains tied to Israel’s withdrawal to the international border, affirming that bilateral agreements between Lebanon and Israel cannot substitute for the international presence in the south.

Berri pointed out that Israel continues to reject implementing the outcomes reached between the two sides under the U.S.-brokered Framework Agreement, particularly regarding the implementation of the first pilot phase and establishing a verification mechanism for the deployment of the Lebanese Army in the covered towns.

He noted that despite his opposition to the agreement, he had previously proposed expanding the scope of the pilot phase to include the judiciary, according to the administrative divisions of the south, rather than limiting it solely to the occupied western town of Zouk Mosbeh, while incorporating liberated towns into the plan.