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Berri meets US delegation, criticizes US move to end UNIFIL's mission

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met Wednesday in Ain el-Tineh with U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin and a congressional delegation from the Republican and Democratic parties.

“Despite the international efforts exerted, and the U.S. mediation in particular, to compel Israel to comply with international legitimacy and to implement the ceasefire agreement agreed on in November 2024 and Resolution 1701, we have been surprised by counter-efforts against Resolutions 425 and 1701 and against the ceasefire agreement from the same sponsor (Washington), targeting the presence of the UNIFIL forces and their mission,” Berri said during the meeting.

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Barrack reportedly sought Ortagus' help for wide Israel network

U.S. special envoy to Lebanon Tom Barrack will return to Beirut next week after U.S. envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus' return from Israel, pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

The daily said that Barrack will continue his mission in Lebanon and that Ortagus has not been officially tasked with the Lebanese file but was invited by Barrack for her wide network of connections in Israel.

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Aoun advisor reportedly meets Raad, says disarmament plan null if Israel doesn't comply

Presidential advisor Mohammad Obeid and Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad have met to discuss Hezbollah's disarmament, Ad-Diyar newspaper reported Wednesday.

According to the daily, Obeid assured Raad that If Israel does not abide by the American paper - by withdrawing from south Lebanon and halting its daily attacks -, the Cabinet's decision to disarm Hezbollah would be considered null.

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Rajji: Army may ask for 2 more weeks for submission of disarmament plan

Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji on Wednesday described the government’s decision on arms monopolization as “historic,” saying that Lebanon has asked U.S. envoy Tom Barrack for “an Israeli step in return.”

“We’ve gone through decades of occupation and the hegemony of movements that have nothing to do with Lebanon,” Rajji added in remarks to Al-Arabiya TV, while stressing that “there will be no turning back on the decision to monopolize arms.”

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Report: Berri asks Hezbollah to cooperate with army, urges against street action

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has called on Hezbollah to “cooperate with the Lebanese Army,” which is preparing a plan for monopolizing arms in the hands of the state, unnamed sources told Al-Arabiya television.

Berri also stressed to Hezbollah that “there is no benefit from using street action to object against the disarmament decision or force its drop,” the sources said.

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Bassil walks fine line on Hezbollah disarmament amid ongoing Israeli attacks

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil warned against using force to disarm Hezbollah, saying that it is not acceptable to threaten Hezbollah while Israel has not stopped its aggressions and is still occupying five hills in south Lebanon.

Bassil said in an interview Tuesday with Saudi state-owned news channel al-Arabiya that using force against Hezbollah would lead to domestic conflicts after the government tasked the Lebanese army to submit a plan by the end of August to disarm the group.

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Al-Rahi says Hezbollah 'submission to Iran dictates' is not resistance

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has criticized remarks by Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem as he urged the group to hand over its arms and declare its "ultimate loyalty to Lebanon".

"There can be no civil war," al-Rahi told Saudi state-owned news channel al-Arabiya Tuesday, after Qassem said last week that Hezbollah disarmament could lead to "civil war" and vowed to fight to keep the group's arsenal.

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Kneecap rapper faces court on terror charge over Hezbollah flag

A member of Irish rap band Kneecap was due to appear in court on Wednesday charged with a terror offence for allegedly supporting Hezbollah.

Liam O'Hanna, 27, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged in May after being accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag during a London concert in November.

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Barack and Ortagus leave for Israel after Lebanon's visit

U.S. envoys Tom Barrack and Morgan Ortagus left Beirut for Tel Aviv to discuss what Israel is required to do after the Lebanese government’s unprecedented decisions on arms monopolization, diplomatic sources said.

In his meeting with Barrack, President Joseph Aoun “insisted on the need to reassure the Shiite community, especially after the political crisis caused by the government’s latest decisions” on Hezbollah’s disarmament, the sources told Al-Jadeed television.

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Syria says seized Grad rockets headed for Lebanon

Syrian security forces in the central Homs province have seized a truck loaded with Grad-type rockets that was headed for Lebanon, Syrian state media reported on Tuesday.

Syria’s al-Ekhbaria news channel said the truck was intercepted in a well-planned ambush near the Lebanese border.

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