U.S. mediator says progress made but more work has to be done

The U.S. mediator in the maritime border dispute between Israel and Lebanon said on Friday that the negotiations to resolve the conflict have made “very good progress” but more work was required to reach a final agreement.

Amos Hochstein arrived in Lebanon early on Friday for a lightning round of talks with top officials including the president, prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker of parliament as well as top security officials.

“I think we’re making very good progress,” Hochstein said after meeting President Michel Aoun, deputy speaker Elias Bou Saab and General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim. Later, before his departure from Beirut’s airport, he said: “I’m very hopeful, but more work needs to be done.”

Hochstein was last in Beirut in late July for meetings with Lebanese officials. Following that visit he said that he looked “forward to being able to come back to the region to make the final arrangement.” At the time, a senior Israeli official told Reuters the government would present a new Israeli proposal that “includes a solution that would allow the Lebanese to develop the gas reserves in the disputed area while preserving Israel’s commercial rights”.

A Lebanese official said at the time that the proposal would allow Lebanon to explore the entire Qana field , while Israel will be allowed to explore the entire Karish field .

Israel postpones drilling in karish

Natural gas extraction from the Karish field will not start in September as had initially been planned and will instead begin after mid-October, Israeli newspaper Maariv reported on Thursday

Maariv stated that this development may lighten tension that has arisen in recent weeks with the Iranian backed Lebanese Hezbollah militant group , since Karish is close to the disputed maritime border demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon, which is still the focus of indirect talks mediated by the US.
Maariv added that, in any case, in light of threats made by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Israel will maintain a high level of alert on its northern border.
Israeli energy minister Karin Elharar has meanwhile said that the possible delay in activating Karish is not linked to tension over security concerns but is primarily due to the complexity of installation operations.