BEIRUT, Oct. 3, 2022 (Xinhua) The Lebanese presidency announced on Monday amendments to the proposal of the US mediator in the indirect negotiations to demarcate the maritime border with Israel, Amos Hochstein, who will be informed within hours of these amendments to transfer them to the Israeli side.
This came in a statement issued by the presidency after a meeting chaired by President Michel Aoun and in the presence of Parliament Speakers Nabih Berri and the caretaker government Najib Mikati.
The statement said that the meeting between Aoun, Berri and Mikati adopted the notes made by the technical committee for demarcating the maritime borders on the American proposal, which “confirms Lebanon’s constants adopted since the start of negotiations, preserves Lebanon’s rights and secures its interests.”
He added that it was emphasized during the meeting the unity of the Lebanese position regarding Hochstein’s offer, which will be communicated within the next few hours.
“According to the notes, amendments have been made to the American offer, which will be received by Hochstein and transferred to the Israeli side,” the statement added.
In turn, Mikati said in a statement to reporters after the meeting that “things are on the right track” in the maritime border demarcation file, noting that Lebanon is in the process of informing the American mediator of observations on his demarcation proposal.
He stressed that “the matters, the postulates, and the basic pillars of this agreement are complete, and that matters are easy and on the right path, and I would like to stress that our position is all united for the interest of Lebanon.”
For his part, Berri said in a brief statement to reporters that “the position is one and united.”
In turn, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab, who is assigned by President Aoun to follow up the demarcation file with the American side, told reporters that “tomorrow (Tuesday) the Lebanese response to the American mediator’s draft, and we hope to get the final answer from it before the end of this week.”
“Today we gave an answer to the proposal submitted with the amendments and observations, and it is not a final answer, and we are waiting for the final offer that will take into account our observations,” he said.
He believed that “if the observations that we made are taken into account, then the discussion (in the demarcation file) is about days and not weeks.”
Regarding the “Qana” gas field in Lebanese waters, Bou Saab said that Lebanon had obtained all of its rights in the field.
On whether the signing of the demarcation will be within the framework of a treaty or agreement, Bou Saab said, “We do not recognize the Israeli enemy, and therefore there is no treaty or agreement, but rather certain arrangements,” he said.
Last Saturday, the Lebanese president and the heads of parliament and the government had received a written proposal from the American mediator on the demarcation of the maritime border with Israel.
In turn, Hochstein has conducted, during the past months, shuttle tours between Lebanon and Israel to reach a settlement over their dispute over a border maritime area in the Mediterranean waters believed to contain quantities of gas and oil.
It is noteworthy that negotiations on the demarcation of the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel were launched in 2020 under the auspices of the United Nations and with American mediation, and then stopped in May 2021 due to differences over the area of the disputed area.