Before the Lebanese government agreed to a US-brokered agreement to settle a decades-old maritime border dispute with Israel, the powerful Hezbollah had carefully reviewed the final draft and signaled its acceptance.
To be sure, Iran-backed Hezbollah, labeled a terrorist group by Washington and a sworn enemy of Israel, was nowhere near the negotiating hall during the US shuttle diplomacy that sealed the landmark deal last week.
But officials familiar with Hezbollah’s thinking, a senior Lebanese official and a Western source familiar with the operation said that behind the scenes, the group, which possesses a huge arsenal of weapons, was scrutinizing the details, and expressed its opinion even as it threatened military action if Lebanon’s interests were not secured.
The maritime delimitation agreement, which the three parties described as a historic achievement, marks a diplomatic departure from decades of war and hostility as well as opening the door to offshore energy exploration.
Observers say that the agreement was more important to the realism shown by Hezbollah, noting the shift in priorities to a group formed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard four decades ago to fight Israel. A source familiar with Hezbollah’s thinking told Archyde.com, “Hezbollah’s leadership checked the understanding line by line before giving approval for it.”
Having spent most of the past decade deploying fighters and military expertise across the Middle East to help Iran’s allies, particularly Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah’s focus today is squarely on Lebanon – a country in deep crisis.
In the opinion of Hezbollah, which is more involved than ever in the affairs of the state, Offshore oil and gas exploitation It is the only way for Lebanon to get out of the devastating financial meltdown that has hit all the Lebanese people hard, including its large Shiite audience.
Although Hezbollah has repeatedly declared that it does not fear war with Israel, it says it does not seek to enter a war with a staunch enemy that invaded Lebanon in 1978 and 1982.
Reconstruction of Lebanon took several years as a result of the last war in 2006. Some Gulf countries helped restore villages and towns that were completely destroyed, but these countries are now avoiding helping Beirut because of Hezbollah’s influence. Although Tehran’s support remains strong, Western sanctions have reduced the amount of money that Iran can send to Hezbollah.
Ruin or realism
The energy discovery, while not sufficient on its own to solve Lebanon’s deep economic problems, would be a huge boon, providing much-needed hard currency and perhaps one day alleviating power outages.
Two Hezbollah lawmakers told Archyde.com the group was open to the idea of a deal, as a path to alleviating some of Lebanon’s economic problems. “They had to deal with it in a pragmatic way, not ideological,” said Sami Atallah, founding director of the Lebanese Center for Political Studies, describing Hezbollah’s role as crucial. “They knew they had the power to cause chaos if they wanted to – but that would have come.” at a great cost.”
The Lebanese official and the Western source familiar with the operation said that Major General Abbas Ibrahim, the senior Lebanese security official, who also met the American envoy, Amos Hochstein several times, informed the Hezbollah leadership of the American proposals. The Western source said Hezbollah at one point conveyed its frustration with the slow pace of talks to Hochstein through Ibrahim.
In response to a question regarding Hezbollah’s role, the head of Hezbollah’s media unit, Muhammad Afif, said that the state entered into negotiations, “and we stood behind it.”
Archyde.com was not immediately able to reach Ibrahim’s office for comment. The State Department did not immediately respond to emailed questions regarding Hochstein’s communications with Ibrahim. A senior US administration official said that the negotiations were conducted with the sovereign leadership of Lebanon and did not include talks with Hezbollah.
The urgency of the Hochstein mission increased in June, when an Israeli gas drill came out to sea to explore the Karish field – the northern part of which is in waters Lebanon says lie in its exclusive economic zone.
On July 2, Hezbollah sent three unarmed drones over Karish field. The Israeli army intercepted the planes. Hezbollah said it was a show of force, and its allies in Lebanon credited the group’s military position with extracting concessions from Israel, a claim that Israel has categorically denied. A US official told Archyde.com that Hezbollah “nearly destroyed the agreement with its provocative rhetoric and actions that threaten war… No party can and should not claim victory.”
Peace is still far away
Hezbollah gave the green light to controversial details. This included an implicit reference to arrangements that would result in Israel receiving a share of the revenues from the Qana field, which Lebanon considered entirely in its waters, but which Israel said was part of.
Politician Gebran Bassil, who has followed the talks closely, told Archyde.com that a diplomatic solution would require France’s Total Energy, which is set to drill on behalf of Lebanon, to strike a separate deal with Israel under which it would receive a portion of the proceeds, bypassing any Lebanese participation.
A spokesperson from Total Energy said they had no comment. Two French diplomatic sources said French officials had met with Hezbollah representatives regarding the comprehensive agreement. The French Foreign Ministry said that France actively contributed to the agreement, “especially by transmitting messages between the different parties in coordination with the American mediator.”
Despite the concerted efforts of all parties to reach this agreement, peace remains elusive between the two conflicting countries on many issues, and with Hezbollah’s influence deeply entrenched in Beirut.
But more than 16 years following the last war, the benefits reaped from any gas production might help stave off war. “Once the pipes reach the water, the war is far away,” said a source familiar with Hezbollah’s thinking.
