India, June 1 -- The man who holds the lever to Hezbollah's ceasefire posture made his position plain on Sunday: he can deliver. But he will not go first.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the Amal Party leader who serves as the movement's primary interlocutor with Beirut's political class, told NBN television that Hezbollah would observe the ceasefire in full the moment Israel halted its military operations in Lebanon. "I guarantee the full, comprehensive and immediate compliance with the ceasefire," Berri said, before adding the clause that has become the defining impasse of the conflict: "but the question is who will compel Israel to stop its aggression."

The remarks, delivered on the eve of a new round of direct ambassadoria...