Maritime Boundary Demarcation: Hezbollah Says final words

There isn’t a close solution to the demarcation file position between Lebanon and Israel.

This opens the door to questions about the security situation on Lebanon’s southern border.

Especially in the light of the high alert, despite the reluctance of all parties concerned to speak on the subject.

Negotiations with Israeli officials by US mediator Hawkshetin concluded with an enemy “initial response” to the Lebanese proposal.

Israel welcomes Lebanon’s position

Israel’s position on Lebanon’s proposals is positive but contains observations that reflect negatively and complicate the dispute.

Also Read: Maritime Borders Lebanese Negotiations Rise to Escalation

About Israel’s position, According to Lebanese news, it welcomes Lebanon’s unified position, which does not speak of line 29 as a negotiating line, and considers that this answer withdraws the file of the Karish field from circulation as a disputed area.

It believes that Lebanon’s position allows it to continue its plan of action to extract oil and gas from this field.

Israel acknowledged that line 23 was a central point in the negotiation, but did not accept Lebanon’s demand for the entire “Qana field“, and negotiating line 23.

This meant that Israel had a right and a stake in the field, recognizing that Lebanon’s share in the field was greater than Israel’s.

Finally, Israeli officials said that the international community should deter Lebanon from embracing the threats announced by Hezbollah and prevent it from doing any action that could seriously harm Lebanon.

Also Read: Israel threats Palestinian water sources

Lebanon’s official position

Lebanon’s reading did not unite once and for all, it could be subject to receiving the answer officially via the American mediator.

However, this has not prevented preliminary consultations between the stakeholders, which have reached preliminary understandings that need further consideration before Lebanon’s official position is announced and communicated to the Americans.

Lebanon rejects any attempt by the enemy to obtain a stake in the Qana field. It also rejects the idea of continuing to negotiate through the broker and insists on returning to the Naqurah meetings. Nor will it accept the idea of joint action through a global company because of a suspicion of normalization. This was heard by the American delegate from the three presidents on his recent visit.

The USA is trying to mediate

The American side has proposed an idea that prevents Lebanon from obliging direct negotiation of the Qana field.

The proposal says that as long as the Lebanese stake is the largest, and the Israeli stake is the smallest, Lebanon will buy the enemy’s stake through a global company that conducts the extraction process, and possibly also sell.

The French company Total was referred to by authorizing surveys, guesswork, and the determination of each party’s share, and thus purchasing the Israeli share, with the cost of the total proceeds of the sale of the extracted materials, with emphasis on the French side that the Qana field contains quantities permitting this type of trade-off.

The mediator urged Lebanon to take advantage of the opportunity and initiate exploration to cover the costs of rebuilding Lebanon.

He advised that Lebanon has no prospect of a new war because Israel will respond harshly to any attack and Lebanon will be in a worse position than it is.

The Resistance draws boundaries

The Resistance, through a mission carried out yesterday towards the disputed maritime zone by the leadership and negotiators of the Israeli enemy, showed that it was serious in carrying out its commitment to preventing any activity in the Karish field before the demarcation of the maritime boundary, not fathering the reinforcements of its army in the vicinity of the disputed area, and the military assistance waved by NATO on the ground.

Hezbollah issued a statement saying: “On Saturday afternoon, 2/7/2022, the group of martyrs Jamil Skaf and Mehdi Yaghi launched three unarmed marches of various sizes towards the disputed area at Karish field to carry out reconnaissance missions.

The enemy reverted to a policy of incitement to destabilize Lebanon’s “unified” internal position, by holding Hezbollah responsible for not resolving the maritime boundary demarcation.

During his government’s first meeting after the dissolution of the Israeli parliament, Yair Lapid said that Hezbollah was “undermining Lebanon’s ability to reach an agreement on maritime boundaries,” adding that “Israel will continue to protect itself, its citizens, and its interests.”

Also Read: Palestinian resistance prepare for “War”

US mediator Amos Hawkstein contacted Lebanese officials involved in the demarcation file, including Deputy Speaker of the Lebanese parliament Elias bou Saab, and asked for clarification of what had happened, considering that Hezbollah’s sending of marches would stop negotiating efforts and could affect the positivity of the recent talks.