Rania Shakhtoura wrote in “Akhbar Al-Youm”:
The American mediator for the demarcation of the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel, Amos Hochstein, arrived in Beirut on a quick visit, and announced from the presidential palace following his meeting with President Michel Aoun: “We have made progress and he is optimistic that a solution will be reached soon.” But it seems that this positive atmosphere will not be translated quickly, but rather the completion of the demarcation file is postponed until following the Lebanese presidential elections and the Israeli elections…and perhaps more than next autumn, given the uncertainty surrounding the entitlements in the region.
A diplomatic source considered, via “Akhbar Al-Youm” agency, that strong messages were sent to Iran, at a time when it was preparing to “pull the pen out of its pocket” in order to sign the nuclear agreement. The Iraqi front was opened, and then Russia dismantled the “S-300” defense system. The airspace came from heights overlooking the Syrian coast, and the Syrian authorities asked Tehran not to respond to the Israeli moves from Syria….
Will such a path extend to Lebanon, the source said: The landmarks show through the demarcation of the border whether it will be according to the Hochstein project, expecting that “the current visit will be to lift the blame and not for the final solution.”
On the other hand, the source stops at a conflict within the United Nations between the United States on the one hand and the Europeans on the other, as it seems that European countries are lenient with Iran, while Merca is strict and refuses to be non-committal in dealing with international resolutions.
He considered that this was reflected in the extension of the UNIFIL forces operating in southern Lebanon, as for the first time the extension took place without asking for a modification of its missions, and the strongly worded political report was also absent from Hezbollah’s movements in the south and its encroachments on the international forces, the Lebanese army and the borders.
And here the source asked: Is it evidence of not being distracted by details while waiting for something greater? Or are we in front of the features of a settlement on this file? Or might this measure have the features of limiting the role of the international forces and asking them to stay neutral if something happened in the region between Israel and Hezbollah?!
He concluded by saying: This ambiguity is the result of the lack of any results at the regional level, and therefore it is not possible to be certain regarding the interpretations before we know the directions taken by the United Nations.
