Tomorrow, Wednesday, negotiations between Lebanon and Israel for the demarcation of borders under the auspices of the United Nations and the mediation of the United States will begin, and negotiations will be held at the United Nations headquarters in Naqoura (southern Lebanon), while the Lebanese army said that an Israeli warship violated the country's territorial waters yesterday.
The Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, said that the negotiations that his country will participate in tomorrow to demarcate its southern borders with Israel are technical and specific negotiations with the demarcation of the maritime borders.
Aoun added during his meeting with his country's negotiating delegation that negotiations "should be limited to the issue of demarcation specifically, on the condition that negotiations begin on the basis of the line that starts from the Ras Naqoura area by land and extends by sea, based on the midline technique without counting any impact on the coastal islands of occupied Palestine." ".
A Lebanese security source said that the Lebanese and Israeli negotiating delegations will meet in one room inside the base of the United Nations forces operating in southern Lebanon "UNIFIL" (Unifil), but that the negotiations between the two parties will be through a mediator, while the Israeli Minister of Energy stated that the negotiations will be direct.
The Lebanese President: The negotiations are limited to the issue of demarcating the borders, provided that they begin on the basis of the line that starts from Ras Naqoura by land (Reuters)
Preparatory meetings
3 days ago, the French Press Agency reported that the delegation formed by Lebanon to negotiate the demarcation of the maritime borders, met with the Commander of the Lebanese Army, General Joseph Aoun, within the preparatory meetings, which precede the start of the negotiations.
Beirut and Tel Aviv announced at the beginning of this month that an understanding had been reached to start negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations to demarcate the borders between them. Washington’s mediation, which lasted 3 years, convinced the Lebanese and Israeli sides to enter into negotiations to end the conflict over their borders.
The Lebanese army said that General Aoun met with the negotiating delegation and gave "basic directions for launching the negotiation process with the aim of demarcating the maritime borders, on the basis of the line that starts from Ras Naqoura by land and extends by sea according to the midline technique ... and that is based on a study prepared by the army command in accordance with international laws." .
2- Israel relies on demarcation on an island that has been abandoned and considers it part of its land, which is 1000 meters from the shore, and does not constitute an island in the sense of the international law of the seas, and this type has no economic zone or dredging
based on these two violations. Israel claims its control over 1700 km² of Lebanese rights
7/10 pic.twitter.com/fiQ0GHqOaM
- Abbas Hamieh (@ abbashamieh33) October 13, 2020
The
negotiation delegations,
and the Lebanese delegation includes 4 members, two military and two civilians, they are Brigadier General Bassam Yassin, Colonel Mazen Basbous, technical expert Najeeb Masih, and the head of the Petroleum Sector Authority, Wissam February.
In return, Israel announced that its delegation would include the Director General of the Energy Ministry, Udi Adiri, Raufin Azar, the diplomatic advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the head of the Strategic Affairs Department in the army.
In 2018, Lebanon signed the first contract to explore for gas and oil in its territorial waters, with a consortium of companies that includes "Total", "Eni" and "Novatek".
The contract includes one of the maritime areas, which remain the subject of conflict between Lebanon and Israel, which is Zone No. 9, with an area of about 860 square kilometers.
The announcement by the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, on the second of this month, of the framework agreement on negotiations with Tel Aviv, sparked criticism in Lebanon, especially from the opponents of Hezbollah, who saw in it the tacit approval of the party, which is the archenemy of Israel, and the party announced earlier His opposition to any US role in the negotiations due to its close association with Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah and the Hezbollah
Parliamentary Bloc stressed, last Thursday, that the negotiations to demarcate the borders with Israel do not mean peace with it, and the bloc added in a statement that "the negotiating framework on an exclusive issue related to our southern maritime borders and the restoration of our land leading to the demarcation of the sites of our national sovereignty, no It has absolutely no connection with the context of reconciliation with the Zionist enemy usurping Palestine, nor with the normalization policies that it recently adopted, which may be pursued by Arab countries that have never believed in the option of resistance. "
Yesterday, Monday, the US State Department announced its participation in an envoy and mediator in the negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, and the ministry said in a statement that David Schenker, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, will conduct the opening session of the negotiations, and will be joined by Ambassador John DeRoucher, who will be the American mediator in these Negotiations.
Lebanon and Israel are officially in a state of war, just as Lebanon witnessed in 2006 a bloody war between Israel and Hezbollah that lasted 33 days, during which 1,200 Lebanese were killed, most of them civilians, and 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
In a separate context, the Lebanese army announced today that an Israeli gunboat violated the Lebanese territorial waters in front of the Ras Al-Naqoura border area (south of the country) yesterday.
The army said in a statement that the Israeli boat fired at Lebanese fishermen, indicating that the army is following up the matter in coordination with the United Nations forces operating in southern Lebanon.