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Lebanon's Internal Splits over Talks with Israel Trip up Saudi ...
Saudi envoy’s push for a unified stance collapsed as President Joseph Aoun backed direct talks and Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah rejected them.
On Thursday, a growing rift between President Joseph Aoun and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri derailed Saudi-backed efforts to forge a united Lebanese position on potential peace negotiations with Israel, stalling a planned tripartite meeting.
Saudi Arabia is pushing for a "detente" between Lebanon and Israel to curb instability, drawing on its history as sponsor of the 1990 agreement that ended Lebanon's 15-year civil war.
Berri, a Hezbollah ally, publicly accused Aoun of making statements regarding negotiations that were "inaccurate, to say the least," reflecting his preference for a non-aggression pact over a full peace deal.
President Donald Trump invited Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House for talks this month, while the U.S. embassy in Beirut stated direct engagement "can mark the beginning of a national revival."
Hezbollah and its Shi'ite Muslim constituency remain firmly opposed to normalization amid the ongoing war that has killed more than 2,500 people, though Saudi envoy Prince Yazid bin Farhan sought reassurances the group would not topple the government.