Lebanon parliament speaker says he would guarantee Hezbollah’s commitment to ‘global ceasefire’ with Israel

Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri would guarantee Hezbollah’s adherence to a “global ceasefire” with Israel if such an agreement is reached, his adviser told AFP on Tuesday.

Berri, who leads the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement, has long acted as a key intermediary between the Iran-backed group and Washington, which designates Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

“Speaker Berri’s main demand is a global ceasefire,” adviser Ali Hamdan said. “If a global ceasefire deal is reached, he will guarantee Hezbollah’s respect for it.”

Hamdan said such an agreement would require Israel to halt strikes “by air, land or sea”, as well as stop detonations and demolitions in south Lebanon, where Israel has been accused of razing villages during its military operations.

The comments came after US President Donald Trump said late on Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to call off a military raid on Beirut, while Hezbollah had agreed that “all shooting will stop”.

Trump said he had held “a very good call” with Hezbollah through senior representatives, adding that Israel would not attack the group and Hezbollah would not attack Israel.

Netanyahu, however, said he had told Trump that Israel would strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut if the group continued attacking Israeli towns and civilians.

Hezbollah has not publicly commented on the announcement.

Lebanon’s embassy in Washington said on Monday that Hezbollah had accepted a US proposal for a “mutual cessation of attacks”. Under the proposal, Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs would stop in exchange for Hezbollah refraining from attacks on Israel, with the framework later expanding to all Lebanese territory.

Iran has said a ceasefire in Lebanon remains a key condition for any agreement with the United States to end the wider regional war.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said he had spoken with Berri by phone, warning that if Israel’s assault on Lebanon continued, Tehran would not only halt negotiations but enter “direct confrontation” with Israel.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that Tehran had stopped talks with Washington over Israel’s offensive on Lebanon, though there was no official confirmation.