It was reported in the online newspaper Al-Anbaa:
A new round of negotiations was completed with the visit of the American envoy, Amos Hochstein to Lebanon, during which he discussed with those concerned with the Israeli developments and proposals, and then indicated that progress is being made in this context, without revealing any of the details of the discussions and the accomplished points.
Sources following up on the file indicated that, “it is clear that the level of optimism seemed to be declining compared to the last visit, when an atmosphere was circulated regarding the conclusion of the agreement within a few weeks,” noting through the “news”, that “it is likely that the positive atmosphere that was issued at that time was related to The breakthroughs that took place at the level of the nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran, and the reason for the delay taking place today may be the decline in the momentum of indirect negotiations between the two parties, especially since the file is closely related to a settlement that includes the entire region, of which Iran is a part by virtue of its influence.
The presence of the Director General of Public Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, was remarkable in the meetings held with the American envoy, following the army was excluded earlier from the negotiation process and was limited to the three presidents and the deputy prime minister. What are the implications of this new participation?
Professor of International Relations Khaled Al-Ezzi pointed out that “the available information regarding the negotiations so far speaks of Israel’s agreement to grant Lebanon the Qana field in exchange for the Karish field, but what was new on the subject was the announcement by the “Energean” company to stop searching for the Karish reservoir due to the security tension.”
In an interview with Al-Anbaa online newspaper, Al-Ezzi pointed to the expansion of the first negotiations and the participation of Major General Ibrahim in the talks. He asked: “Is a visit to Qatar being prepared to discuss the file following the latter entered the line of negotiations alongside the United States?”
In this context, Al-Ezzi recalled the question of the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, regarding the external influences on this file, and he in turn asked: “Are the negotiations related to Lebanon only, and who is negotiating, Lebanon or Iran?” He pointed out that “the file is directly related to the nuclear agreement, The postponement, in turn, until following the midterm elections in the United States,” adding that “the border demarcation negotiations will be very long, and here, it is necessary for the Lebanese negotiator to be unified and to adopt a national strategy during the talks,” expressing his concern “that the file will be delayed for a long time, and the gas will lose its value.” The cost of extracting it becomes higher than the return to Lebanon, and the latter loses its wealth.
And regarding the Lebanese agreement on one negotiator, regardless of his identity, and a national strategy for negotiations, Al-Ezzi winked at the channel of Hezbollah’s interference in the file through its marches that reached the Karish field, and pointed out that “the party has reached areas that Lebanon does not recognize as being under Lebanese sovereignty. Because the President of the Republic did not sign Decree 6433 and send it to the United Nations, a decree that increases the area of Lebanon by sea, and therefore question marks are also raised regarding all of this.
Regarding Europe’s need for gas and the possibility of this matter expediting negotiations to complete the file, Al-Ezzi stated that “Israeli gas is liquefied and needs to be recycled, and therefore Europe will not benefit from it directly, and these alternatives will not constitute the actual cover for the needs of European markets, but the latter is looking for solutions Others, represented by France’s announcement of nuclear plants that it may use to generate electricity.
