The Lebanese president… the issue of demarcating the maritime border with Israel will soon be over.
In this context, Lebanese President Michel Aoun announced that the issue of demarcating the maritime borders with Israel “will end soon.”
The two countries are quarreling over a marine area rich in oil and gas in the Mediterranean with an area of 860 square kilometers, according to maps deposited by both parties to the United Nations, and the United States of America is mediating to settle the dispute between them.
Aoun said, in an interview with the Lebanese channel “OTV” (privately), that “the issue of border demarcation (with Israel) will be over soon, God willing,” according to the official news agency.
In response to a question, he answered that the solution would be in the interest of Lebanon and “that satisfies everyone.”
He continued, “The two sides must be satisfied with the solution, otherwise the issue will turn into a hand over the other.”
And he added: “I think we are on the verge of understanding with the Americans who are mediating between Lebanon and Israel.”
As of 21:15 GMT, neither Tel Aviv nor Washington had commented on Aoun’s statement regarding the imminent end of the conflict on the maritime border with Israel.
And in the middle of last June, the American mediator in the file of demarcating the maritime borders between Beirut and Tel Aviv, Amos Hochstein, visited Lebanon following a pause in negotiations that lasted more than a year.
Indirect negotiations began between the two countries in October 2020, under the auspices of the United Nations and with American mediation, and five rounds of negotiations were held, the last of which was in May 2021.
During one of the rounds of negotiations, the Lebanese delegation presented a new map that pays the right of Lebanon to an additional 1,430 km and that the disputed area is 2,290 km, which was rejected by Israel and led to the negotiations being suspended.
