Agencies:
Posted on: Saturday 12 March 2022 – 9:29 PM | Last update: Saturday 12 March 2022 – 9:29 PM
A Lebanese source in the procession of contacts related to the file of demarcating the maritime borders between Lebanon and Israel told Al-Sharq News that Lebanon is moving to reject the proposals presented by the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, pointing out that the recent proposals submitted by the aforementioned mediator to the Lebanese side have sparked an internal division that has been kept secret. Until the refusal of “Hezbollah” and “Amal Movement” to participate in the committee that was formed to study it, which reflected their “objection” to what those proposals contained “of neglecting Lebanon’s oil rights.”
The source pointed out that the American side “is insisting that Lebanon abandon its claim to border line No. 29, provided that it is satisfied with line No. 23, which the Lebanese side saw as giving gains to Israel at the expense of Lebanon.”
Zigzag
The source spoke of “intensive contacts” that took place in the recent period, “to gather” what he described as “the attempt of some Lebanese parties to make free concessions in this file.” He said, “All of what Hochstein’s proposals included is a zigzag line, giving the entire Karish oil field to Israel, while Lebanon gives the right to explore in the Qana field jointly or partially, as it leaves a pocket of it under Israeli sovereignty.”
A committee that did not see the light
Lebanese President Michel Aoun had called, after receiving Hochten’s proposals, in writing, from the American ambassador in Beirut, Dorothy Shea, to form a committee that includes representatives of all political parties, to study and agree on them, but Aoun’s proposal was met with the refusal of the “Shiite duo” to participate in the aforementioned committee. In addition to public statements by Hezbollah officials, in which they declared their “distrust of American mediators” and their refusal to allow Israel to “exploit the Lebanese right.” The source stated that Aoun, “after the failure of the committee, tried to convene a meeting to study the issue in the presidential palace, in which the participants expressed a tendency to reject the American proposals.”
The source revealed to “Al-Sharq” that “the Lebanese army is still sticking to the maritime border line No. 29, and that it stands behind the political authority,” stressing that the Lebanese side rejects any normalization with the enemy under the slogan of exploration.
unanimous refusal
The source said that “the area of the area under dispute between Lebanon and Israel is about 2,300 square kilometers, giving the so-called Hof Lebanon Line entitlement to 550 km of it, while all that Hochstein proposed is an additional 50 km.” And he spoke of “near Lebanese consensus that accepting Hochten’s proposals constitutes a waiver of sovereignty and national wealth,” expecting that “rejection” will be the Lebanese response to the American mediator’s proposals, pointing out that “work is currently focused on an appropriate output to inform the American side of the rejection, which will mean The Hochstein mission has practically failed.