Berri Says Israel Wants to Shake Lebanon Stability as Officials Seek to Contain Repercussions of Strike

Speaker Nabih Berri has accused Israel of seeking to hit Lebanon every time the country makes progress towards stability as a report said that he held contacts with top officials to contain the repercussions of an Israeli strike that killed several Hizbullah members.

“Every time we take steps forward in terms of achieving stability … Israel tries to create chaos,” local dailies on Monday quoted Berri as telling his visitors.

“Israelis don't want Lebanon to relax,” he said.

An Israeli strike in Syria on Sunday killed the son of Imad Mughniyeh, a top Hizbullah commander assassinated in 2008 in Damascus, and at least five other fighters.

In a statement issued to the media, Hizbullah identified one of the six slain men as Jihad Mughniyeh, who is one of the most prominent party officials to die in Syria since the group sent its members to the neighboring country to fight alongside President Bashar Assad's forces against the rebellion.

The dead also included another senior Hizbullah commander, Mohammed Issa, and at least one Iranian national with the group, the statement said.

An Nahar daily said on Monday that Berri, Premier Tammam Salam and Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat held contacts after the attack to contain its repercussions.

The newspaper expected more contacts to be held with Iran, which is Hizbullah's main backer.

Hizbullah's al-Manar TV warned on Sunday that Israel was "playing with fire that puts the security of the whole Middle East on edge."

The party's statement said the strike came as fighters were inspecting positions in the Golan Heights, close to the Israeli-controlled frontier, in an area known as Mazraat al-Amal.

Israel did not confirm the strike but Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon told an Israeli radio station that considering Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had recently denied the group’s presence in the Golan Heights, “he has some explaining to do.”