Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri does not hide his annoyance and dissatisfaction with the move of the Presidents of the Republic and the Government to engage in a direct negotiation process with the enemy entity. He reiterates to his visitors his categorical rejection of any form of direct negotiation with “Israel,” stressing that the priority must remain a ceasefire, fortifying civil peace, and preventing a slide into internal strife. He points out that this position is not new, but has been expressed repeatedly, most recently in a statement by the Presidency of the Amal Movement a few days ago, as well as in a statement by the movement’s Executive Board the day before yesterday. In his comment on the statement issued after the meeting between the Lebanese ambassador and the enemy entity’s ambassador in Washington, President Berri expressed to Al-Akhbar newspaper his astonishment at the path taken by the officials, saying that they “went to the United States to bring about a ceasefire, but then they returned to fight Hezbollah!” Pointing out that abandoning engagement in a negotiating process within a broader regional path, and going to a unilateral negotiation without possessing strong cards, weakens Lebanon’s position instead of strengthening it. Speaker Berri, who communicates daily - according to Al-Akhbar newspaper - with the Islamic Republic of Iran, recalled that he was informed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, before the announcement of the truce between Iran and the United States, that Tehran would not accept any ceasefire that did not include Lebanon. He added, “After the confusion that occurred in Beirut on this path, I decided to move through other channels.” In this context, Berri points out that sending his political aide, Representative Ali Hassan Khalil, to Riyadh came at the request of a Saudi, in the context of clear political endeavors, “and he did not go there to disgrace or perform Umrah.”