A few days separate from the last negotiating station regarding the demarcation of the maritime border with Israel. Pending the end of the Jewish holidays, the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, is ready to obtain the last Israeli answer that will enable him to send the draft agreement to Lebanon, and it is expected that this will be between next Wednesday and Thursday.
Apparently, Hochstein obtained from Israel a basic approval regarding the terms of the two sides’ blocks borders, their coordinates, and the confirmation of Lebanon’s right to the entire Qana field, and the absence of any kind of partnership in business or profits between the two sides, in addition to the last Israeli answer regarding The so-called security zone within the Lebanese territorial waters.
He said a reference meaning for“news”What happened during the New York meetings resolved several points that made it easier for Lebanon to put the American mediator in an atmosphere of what Lebanon might accept. . However, what caused confusion for some time, was Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s pursuit of the idea of barter, making the security zone under Israel’s sovereignty in exchange for a parallel area that Lebanon would obtain in the depth of the sea. However, the interventions that took place on more than one level dropped the idea, and things came back to prove the following:
The so-called security area is located within the Lebanese territorial waters, and is currently occupied by Israel, and Lebanon with all its official and political parties is not in the process of abandoning it under any circumstances.
– Any solution to the problem of this area should not be linked at all to the land borders, and any special measures that can be adopted in this area do not affect at all, in any way, everything on land, especially the point of Ras al-Naqoura and point B1.
– Lebanon is ready to discuss frameworks and solutions to make this region free of any military presence, but Israel rejects the idea of a buffer zone, and it is part of a proposal raised by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri that the region be under the supervision of the international emergency forces and neither side approaches it.
– Lebanon is proven by the coordinates that preserve its full rights in all blocks, and it reserves its right to the entire Qana field reservoir, and it has nothing to do with any side deals taking place with Israel by international companies operating in the field.
According to the reference, Hochstein is expected to submit a draft proposal that is supposed to include a solution to the problem of the security zone, in line with Lebanon’s refusal to give up anything. The reference estimated that the Israeli leadership would accept proposals that would not make the project stall, and that the Americans and Europeans were making contacts to help the government of Yair Lapid to face the pressure it is facing from the Israeli opposition led by Benjamin Netanyahu. She is in charge!
The reference made it clear that following Lebanon received the written draft, President Michel Aoun will initiate consultations with Presidents Berri and Mikati and with the concerned forces at the national level in preparation for taking a unified official position that will be communicated to the American mediator, so that the discussions will move to a new stage that will be titled confirming the agreement in separate meetings to be held in Naqoura.
As it is supposed, the Naqoura sessions are not for negotiating the articles of the agreement, but rather to confirm and verify them legally, administratively and technically. And that President Aoun will start consultations with all parties before forming the delegation concerned with this stage, which is supposed to consist of a specialist in international law and international treaties, as well as military, administrative and technical experts whose task is to verify what is contained in the text of the understanding.
The reference said that what the Naqoura meetings will end up with is not a signing ceremony for an agreement between two sides, and there will be no joint paper signed by the two parties, and that Lebanon has informed the American side that it absolutely refuses to give the status of a treaty to this understanding, and that what will take place will be a letter signed by it. Lebanon will send it to the United Nations, including the coordinates of its maritime borders and its full economic zones. Israel will also send an identical but separate paper. Then the indirect agreement will be announced, followed by the start of work on the land in the exploration and extraction operations.
In the same context, “Al-Akhbar” learned that the French side returned and informed the concerned official and party Lebanese authorities that Total’s management confirms its commitment to attend immediately following the agreement was announced, and that the company will develop a separate work program between Lebanon and Israel, and that there will be nothing It is joint between the two sides, and that the company is itself responsible on its own for any financial or non-financial solution regarding what Israel considers its rights in the Qana field, and that Lebanon is not concerned with this file, neither in form nor in terms of profits.
But Total raised the point regarding the share that the Russian company Novatek owned in the alliance that includes Total along with the Italian company Eni, and the French expressed their desire to buy this share, but they heard that there was a proposal from Energy Minister Walid Fayyad that Lebanon buy the Russian company’s share And that the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, promised to provide the required amounts, which might raise major problems, as President Berri pointed out that Lebanon’s possession of a stake in this company would turn him into a partner in a company in commercial and non-commercial contact with Israel, which is a matter that falls under the category of normalization, but In Lebanon, who thinks that buying the Russian share and starting work will increase the value of the company, and that Lebanon may sell its share later to interested parties, especially Qatar.
An American show and a warning of treachery
Official sources told Al-Gomhoria that the demarcation file is facing a decisive station in the next few days, and the atmosphere is more positive than ever.
The sources confirmed that, in the talks that were held in Washington on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the Lebanese side felt a remarkable enthusiasm among the Americans to end this file in the near future in the interest of the two parties concerned with demarcating the maritime borders, that is, Lebanon and Israel.
The sources revealed that the American side confirmed that the elements of the agreement are possible, and that it will make every effort from its position as a mediator between the two sides to reach this agreement very soon.
In the same context, an official at the US Embassy in Beirut was quoted as saying that the US mediator in the file of demarcating the maritime borders between Lebanon and Israel, Amos Hochstein, is continuing his efforts to reach an agreement on the demarcation of the maritime borders, noting that the US administration continues to narrow the gaps between all parties. It believes that a sustainable settlement is possible, and welcomes the spirit of cooperation on both sides to reach a solution.
The US official added, “Resolving the maritime border dispute is a priority for the administration of President Joe Biden, and we firmly believe that the agreement will provide sustainable stability and economic prosperity for both parties.”
In a related context, responsible Lebanese sources warned of what Israel is doing, in connection with the demarcation file, and told Al-Jumhuriya that despite the assurances received from more than one American and Western level, as well as from the United Nations, there is concern regarding Israel taking any action. Aggressive, escalatory steps, to plant obstacles in the way of any possible agreement on the demarcation of the borders, and to postpone it until following the Israeli elections.
The sources indicated that this matter was communicated to the Americans, who, for their part, stressed that all parties should avoid taking any steps or actions that threaten the existing stability in the region. They emphasized that the United States places the demarcation file among its priorities and is seeking with the Lebanese and Israeli sides to achieve a maritime agreement, and what this administration has achieved so far is classified as a tangible positivity that is supposed to be translated soon by a public agreement between the two sides.
