Beirut -

Lebanon has decided its official position on the path of indirect technical negotiations with Israel to demarcate its southern maritime borders.

He presented the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, with a verbal response, with the main headline: Lebanon adhered to its full right of the 23rd straight line with the Qana field, without zigzags that erode its spaces, and the desire to resume negotiations.

Official Lebanon has devoted the position of Lebanese President Michel Aoun refusing to sign Decree 6433 not to close the door to negotiations.

The decree - which was signed by former Prime Minister Hassan Diab - was based on the maps of the Lebanese army, which see that the area of ​​the disputed area with Israel reaches the 29th line, amounting to 2,290 kilometers, and includes the Karish field, where the "Energen Power" ship is anchored to extract and store liquefied natural gas. And her arrival last week sparked tension between Lebanon and Israel.


Messages via Hochstein

And the American mediator came to Beirut at an official request from Lebanon after the Israeli ship came to Karish, and he met on Monday and Tuesday the Lebanese presidents and officials, and he heard from them a position that analysts described as advanced and bold, and he did not convey to Israel a written answer about sticking to the 23 straight line with the Qana field, until Israel does not consider it a formal concession of the disputed area between the 23rd and 29th lines.

After 5 indirect technical negotiation rounds between Lebanon and Israel with American mediation and UN sponsorship that failed - between October 2020 and May 2021 - Hochstein visited Beirut in March 2022, and presented a proposal that reflects Tel Aviv's vision on border demarcation, and it was rejected by the Lebanese side. ;

Its purpose is to start from the beginning of the 23 zigzag line, by cutting off about 20% of the Qana field and part of Block 8, which is supposed to be for the whole of Lebanon.

According to political analyst Daoud Ramal, the content of the Lebanese position - which the American mediator has reached - is Lebanon's adherence to the 23 straight line as established by the United Nations in 2011 with the Qana field. The Israeli side stops any investment or extractive activity for gas and oil from the disputed areas, and freezes any activity in the Karish field.

The envoy also informed the envoy of Lebanon's demand to start exploration and investment operations with undisputed Lebanese "blocks", and to open the door for licenses for companies, after obtaining American assurances to operate freely.

And that Lebanon wants a quick answer to its position, with a return to indirect negotiations to demarcate the borders if there is a positive answer from the Israeli side.

Ramal told Al Jazeera Net that what Lebanon wants - at a minimum - is a 23 straight line with Qana, and "if any discoveries of joint fields under this line are discovered later, it will demand that they be searched."

Lebanon informed the American mediator of its full right to the 23rd straight line with the Qana field without zigzags (Reuters)

For his part, writer and political analyst Hussein Ayoub believes that the term “Qana field” is unscientific, based on the principle that “the field is announced after survey, exploration, drilling, prospecting and extraction, which undermines the equation of Qana versus Karish, since the latter has reached the stage of extraction, while Lebanon has not He explores, explores and digs in Qana, recalling that Lebanon, after entering the club of invading countries 3 years ago, found that "Block 4" is not promising for gas quantities after drilling operations.

Ayoub tells Al-Jazeera Net that the equation established by Lebanon goes beyond the 23rd line, and it is likely that if he obtains an American commitment to it, he will make a written proposal with which the 29th line will fall, and if the answer is negative, Lebanon will use the 29th line. The analyst believes that the victory achieved by Lebanon by visiting the American mediator is the establishment of a battle A new relationship with Israel is based on a unified, official Lebanese position. The next step is to block its attempt to infiltrate the Lebanese political rift in order to cause confusion and make the Lebanese people appear in many homes.

Thus, Lebanon is no longer in a weak position, according to Ayoub, "provided that it does not hesitate if the American or Israeli answer is negative. At that time, it must send Decree 6433, amended by line 29, to the United Nations."

Israel, demarcation and energy challenges

Writer and political analyst Rosana Boumansef finds that there is nothing new in the Lebanese position in terms of adhering to the 23rd line, except that it was unified.

She tells Al Jazeera Net that Lebanon is defending its natural right, but its position is fragile as a result of its weak and decadent economic and institutional situation.

And she believes that the new American interest in the conflict between Tel Aviv and Beirut goes beyond Lebanon's demands to visit the American mediator after the arrival of the Israeli ship to the Karish field, and reaches regional concerns about energy sources in the region and the world, especially as European countries are looking for sources of oil supply after the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Therefore, Rosana Boumansef finds that reaching the stage of demarcation of the borders between Lebanon and Israel requires regional will and international push, in light of the imminent entitlements, both in Israel mired in the turmoil of its broken government, and in Lebanon mired in imminent entitlements without a new government and in the last months of President Michel Aoun's era.


Regarding the expectations of the Israeli response, the writer suggests Tel Aviv’s keenness to guarantee its fields and Karish as a guarantee for investment in them, and its strong desire to sell gas to Europe as soon as possible.

Despite the ceilings of threats between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah, Rozana rules out the two parties' desire to go to war against the background of border demarcation and the dispute over the fields, although it is a last option on the table of both parties.

And she remembers that Iran and Israel are waging wars by proxy on many fronts, while the Lebanese front is still postponed, according to her, due to its danger and sensitivity.

"Even Hezbollah can deal painful blows to Israel, but the price for it is huge in light of the disintegration of Lebanon's infrastructure," she said.

For his part, Daoud Ramal believes that the Israeli response to the Lebanese position is difficult to predict, because it wants to continue diluting and consuming time in order to be able to steal wealth in the disputed areas.

What is based on it - in his opinion - is that the mere return of Israel to negotiations after the Lebanese verbal notification means a principled acceptance of its contents.

Ramal said that the ball is in Israel's court to determine if things are heading towards positive or negative, especially since Lebanon made the maximum concessions on the maritime border file.

Hussein Ayoub believes that if Israel is in a hurry to drill in Karish only, this would open the doors, but if the Israeli impediment is related to a project to lay pipelines to Europe via Turkey, it will not accept Line 23, but rather will stick to the area cut off from "Block 8" of In order to pass the Israeli pipeline, and "then the demarcation file will turn into explosive mines."