It is not excluded that the Lebanese Hezbollah will abort the maritime border demarcation negotiations conducted by the governments of Lebanon and Israel with American mediation, especially since a Lebanese official confirmed that reaching an agreement is “very soon.”
This is what was reported today, Monday, by the English-language “Times of Israel” website, which said that Israeli forces on the northern border are on high alert amid fears that Hezbollah might carry out an attack to abort negotiations between Israel and Lebanon on the maritime border dispute, noting that There are reports that the two sides are on the verge of reaching an agreement.
September is the month of decisiveness
Yesterday, Sunday, the Russian “Sputnik” agency reported that a Lebanese official source confirmed that Lebanon and Israel are close to reaching an agreement on the demarcation of the maritime borders between the two countries. And inform us that the answer that will be carried by the American mediator Amos Hookstein From the Israeli side, in response to the Lebanese proposal, it is positive, and it will soon return to Beirut.” The source pointed out that “September will witness a decision in the file of border demarcation.”
Lebanon and Israel are in dispute over a sea area of 860 square kilometers, which is rich in oil and gas. Five rounds of negotiations at the United Nations headquarters in the Naqoura region in southern Lebanon, but those negotiations were suspended due to fundamental differences.
Karish gas field
While Lebanon confirms that the Karish gas field is located in a disputed area, Israel says that the field is located within its internationally recognized territorial waters, and stresses that it will not compromise in the case of the Karish platform, which it recently started operating to extract oil and gas.
Hezbollah strongly opposes making any concessions in the negotiations with Israel. The Secretary-General of the party, Hassan Nasrallah, has long warned last month of the outbreak of a war, which he considered might subject Israel to Lebanon’s conditions, noting that all Israeli fields are “in the threat circle” and ” There is no Israeli target that precision missiles cannot reach.” But Nasrallah said last Friday: “If the American mediator comes and gives the Lebanese state what it demands, we are going for calm.” He added, “If he does not give the state what it demands, we are going to escalate.” “, As he says.
Last July, the Israeli army announced that it had shot down 3 Hezbollah drones, and well-informed sources indicated that these drones were miles away from the Karish gas platform.
Hezbollah and the feasibility of provocations
The Hebrew Channel 12 indicates that there is a fear among the Israeli military leaders that Nasrallah will seek to provoke Israel once more, in the hope that he will be credited with the Lebanese side obtaining Israeli concessions before signing the agreement.
In this context, The Times of Israel indicated that the former head of the Israeli intelligence services, Amos Yadlin, warned that Hezbollah trusts the usefulness of its provocations, and the Israeli security official reminded the Israeli security official of the stage leading up to the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
It is worth noting that the US mediator Hochstein had expressed earlier this month his optimism regarding progress in the indirect negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, paving the way for the two countries to reach an agreement regarding the demarcation of the maritime borders in the coming period.
After his participation at the time in a meeting held by President Michel Aoun with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati at the presidential palace, Hoxton said: “I am still optimistic that continuous progress will be made, as we have done over the past weeks, and I look forward to returning to the region and being able to move forward in Final arrangements,” he said.
