In a statement marking the 17th anniversary of the July 2006 War, Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri emphasized that "the measure of national belonging and defense of sovereignty, independence, and identity is not a matter of opinion. It begins in the south against Israel’s aggressiveness and ambitions, and through national unity that does not accept concessions or the relinquishment of a grain of Lebanese soil from the heights of Arqoub to Ras Naqoura."
Berri pointed out that "political disagreements on many issues and files, despite their significance, require urgent action and resolution with a spirit of shared national responsibility. However, these should not obscure the vision of all Lebanese, regardless of their political, spiritual, and party affiliations, toward Israel’s latent aggressive intentions against Lebanon, which include daily violations of its sovereignty by air, sea, and land, this time starting from the Israeli forces' annexation of the northern Lebanese part of the village of Ghajar and their continued occupation of Shebaa Farms and Kfarshouba Hills."
He added: "Seventeen years after the date that Israel intended to be a breaking point for Lebanon, the Lebanese transformed it through their unity and the efforts of the resistors into a point of change and victory. They proved the Israeli force's inability, over the course of 33 days, to break the will of the Lebanese people in exercising their legitimate right to resist, in defense of their land, dignity, and sovereignty."
Berri concluded with a tribute: "On the anniversary of aggression and victory, I salute the resistors, all the resistors, and the brave Lebanese army, as well as all those stationed on our borders, defenders of our dreams and our titles for our forces. Glory and immortality to all the martyrs, for their blood and their sacrifices which have become suns under which we find shelter and guidance on the path of national correctness, so we do not lose our way."
