Ya Libnan

Lebanon, Israel ‘narrowing gaps’ towards a maritime border deal after 10 years of talks

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BY : Joseph Haboush

State Department senior advisor for global energy security, Amos Hochstein, meets with Lebanon’s Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun in Beirut, Feb. 9, 2022. (Lebanese Army)

Lebanon and Israel are at a moment of “narrowing” gaps towards reaching a deal on their disputed maritime borders, a senior US diplomat said on Wednesday.

“I think after 10 years of these discussions, it’s time for moving on to a deal. I came here in November. I was in Israel. And now we’re at a stage where I understand the parties’ positions, and I think that we’re at the moment of narrowing those gaps towards a deal,” the State Department’s senior advisor for global energy security, Amos Hochstein, said.

But progress seems to have been made, building off former US diplomat David Schenker’s successful efforts to get Lebanese and Israeli officials in the same room for indirect talks.

After a few rounds of talks at the end of 2020, the US stopped the discussions when Lebanon suddenly demanded an extra 1,425 square kilometers (550 sq. miles).

Israel proceeded to put forth maximalist demands as well.

Reports of a divide between Lebanese officials, specifically its president and parliament speaker, surfaced over the new demands.

But Hochstein said he was confident that a unified position would be put forth by all parties.


“I’m pretty optimistic, and I hope and trust… I am confident that there will be a unified position in Lebanon, that there’ll be a unified position in Israel, and that we’ll be able to move forward,” he said during an interview with Lebanese TV channel LBCI.

The US diplomat met with Lebanon’s top officials on Wednesday after doing the same in Israel last week.

He said negotiations were about compromise. “It’s about reaching a settlement where neither side gets 100 percent of what they want.

“It’s the right time to move away from the distractions of external pressures that both sides face and stay focused on what this dispute is about,” he said, referring to the disputed border points of where each country’s waters begin and end.

“There’s no later anymore. This is the later. This is the last minute,” Hochstein said of the need to reach a deal.

ALARABIYA

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3 responses to “Lebanon, Israel ‘narrowing gaps’ towards a maritime border deal after 10 years of talks”

  1. vs Avatar
    vs

    Drawing the borders between Israel and Lebanon: The Americans reject the Lebanese letter and offer a key to the distribution of gas that will be produced from fields in a common area

    A Lebanese channel publishes an exclusive report on the American proposal on the issue of registering the borders between Israel and Lebanon.

    The report comes against the background of the arrival of American envoy Amos Hochstein to Beirut in recent days ahead of the resumption of negotiations and against the background of the letter sent by Lebanon to the UN in which it hardened its position that the border line passes at point 29 (as I reported earlier this month https://t.me/abualiexpress/33063 ). Hochstein has met in recent days with the President of Lebanon, the Prime Minister of Lebanon and the Speaker of Parliament (who is also the chairman of the Shiite Amal movement).

    According to the same Lebanese source, the United States, through Hochstein, flatly rejected the Lebanese demand to start negotiations from point 29 (which increased the area of ​​dispute by 1430 square kilometers).

    According to the American proposal, the French company Total will produce the gas in common fields, most of which are Lebanese, while an American company will produce the gas in common fields, most of whose territory is Israeli. A “joint wealth fund” will be established for Lebanon and Israel for gas profits

  2. vs Avatar
    vs

    Drawing the borders between Israel and Lebanon: The Americans reject the Lebanese letter and offer a key to the distribution of gas that will be produced from fields in a common area

    A Lebanese channel publishes an exclusive report on the American proposal on the issue of registering the borders between Israel and Lebanon.

    The report comes against the background of the arrival of American envoy Amos Hochstein to Beirut in recent days ahead of the resumption of negotiations and against the background of the letter sent by Lebanon to the UN in which it hardened its position that the border line passes at point 29 (as I reported earlier this month https://t.me/abualiexpress/33063 ). Hochstein has met in recent days with the President of Lebanon, the Prime Minister of Lebanon and the Speaker of Parliament (who is also the chairman of the Shiite Amal movement).

    According to the same Lebanese source, the United States, through Hochstein, flatly rejected the Lebanese demand to start negotiations from point 29 (which increased the area of ​​dispute by 1430 square kilometers).

    According to the American proposal, the French company Total will produce the gas in common fields, most of which are Lebanese, while an American company will produce the gas in common fields, most of whose territory is Israeli. A “joint wealth fund” will be established for Lebanon and Israel for gas profits

  3. Adam Yonatan Ben Yoel Avatar
    Adam Yonatan Ben Yoel

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/68641ca075f4da6cafda0552a3dbd451519ca47ab4760b03953670eb1da3db07.png Get the map right!

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