The Lebanese LBC network reported tonight (between Monday and Tuesday) that the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Elias Bu Saevreceived from the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, the final draft of the maritime border demarcation agreement with Israel. It was also reported that the final draft of the agreement meets the requirements of both parties.
At the same time, Bo Saev told the “Reuters” news agency that “Amos Hochstein’s efforts may lead to a historic deal.” This, after political officials in Israel clarified that although they have not yet been officially updated – but there is definitely a positive trend. In the meantime, according to the sources, they have not yet been officially informed by the mediator Hochstein, but from the words of the President of Lebanon, Michel Aon, it can be learned that the Lebanese retracted the essential comments that Israel rejected: “They were told very clearly: ‘It’s out of the question,’ they probably folded.” say the sources.
Report: The agreement on the maritime border with Lebanon will be signed on October 20
“Final version”: Another draft of the maritime border demarcation agreement will be forwarded to Lebanon
The head of the MLA, Dr Ill Hultacommented on the reports and said: “All our demands have been met, the changes we demanded have been fixed. We have preserved Israel’s security interests, we are on the way to a historic agreement.”
At the same time, the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, reports this morning that the draft of the final agreement submitted to the Lebanese side resolved the problems surrounding the issue of the start of drilling in the Kana reservoir and the line of buoys. According to the report, France informed Lebanon that the French drilling company Total is obliged to start drilling and exploration immediately after the announcement of the agreement and that it intends to bring ships, excavators and equipment for this purpose early next year. The French came back and said that Total’s activity is not related to the side agreement between the company and Israel.
There was an extensive discussion on the line of ships that at certain moments threatened the agreement because it concerns the fact that Lebanon will not recognize any maritime border with Israel and that it is only a matter of defining blocks in the economic waters of both parties. The discussion ranged between the expression “the existing situation” which Israel saw as Lebanese recognition of the value of the line of sight, while in Lebanon they wanted the expression “the current situation” which emphasizes the continuation of the conflict regarding the maritime border as well as the land border.
It was also reported that the American side put pressure on Lebanon to accept the ambiguous wording. The Americans told the Lebanese that due to the internal situation of the government in Jerusalem, the Israeli side must come up with a formulation that would show that it did not lose out, and in particular that the agreement needs to be approved by the government and forwarded to the Knesset for review. In order to resolve the issue, the parties may not submit new border lines to the UN, but only inform the UN through the Americans that an understanding has been reached.
As a reminder, the “Al-Arabi” channel reported last night that the maritime border agreement between Lebanon and Israel will be signed on October 20. According to the report, “Preparations are being made for the announcement of an official agreement regarding the marking of the borders between Israel and Lebanon. The expectation is that on October 20 the agreement will be officially signed in the area of Rosh Hankara on the border between the two countries.”
Lebanese President Michel Aoun also commented this morning on the draft of the final agreement for the registration of the maritime border with Israel and wrote on the presidential Twitter account that “We hope that all the arrangements concerning the negotiations on the maritime border will be completed in the coming days.” He noted that the negotiations with Israel on the issue have come a long way, and informed that “the gaps in the negotiations have narrowed in the last week”.
The rapprochement in the talks comes against the background of a source in Lebanon who referred to Defense Minister Gantz’s threats after the hardening of Lebanese positions, and defined Israel’s threats as “intimidation” and assessed that “Israel will not embark on a military adventure against Lebanon and Tel Aviv knows very well that escalation is not in its interest at this stage.” It was reported in the newspaper “A-Sharq Al-Awast” published in London.