Lebanon’s parliament speaker, the most senior Shiite politician in the country and a close ally of Hezbollah, said on Monday there could be no negotiations with Israel without a halt to the war that has raged on in southern Lebanon in spite of a ceasefire.

Nabih Berri, who heads the Hezbollah-allied Amal Movement, made his comments as the Israel Defense Forces issued evacuation warnings for four villages in southern Lebanon ahead of strikes targeting the Iran-backed terror group. Israel says it is acting in response to Hezbollah threats and violations of the truce.

Meanwhile, two soldiers were moderately wounded during an exchange of fire with Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, and the IDF said it shot down at least one Hezbollah drone.

The continued clashes underlined challenges facing US efforts to forge peace between the enemy states, which held rare face-to-face talks last month.

Despite the ceasefire reached between Israel and Lebanon in mid-April, which has since been extended into May, Hezbollah has fired rockets and drones at northern Israeli communities, though most attacks have been on troops in southern Lebanon or on the Israeli side of the border.

Berri told Lebanon’s An-Nahar newspaper the priority must be “stopping the war before any political track,” and that he rejected any negotiations without guarantees Israel would halt attacks, according to a summary of his comments released by his office.

A day earlier, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said that the terror group would be able to “thwart” the talks between Beirut and Jerusalem, and that “any new agreement that will be established in Lebanon must guarantee that our country will not be attacked in any way.”

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem has also sharply rejected the talks, calling them a “sin.”

Two soldiers wounded in clash with Hezbollah gunmen

An exchange of fire in southern Lebanon took place at around 11 a.m., when troops of the Golani Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit encountered several Hezbollah gunmen who fired........

© The Times of Israel