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With the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, announcing the framework agreement to begin negotiations between Lebanon and Israel to demarcate maritime borders under the auspices of the United Nations and mediated by Washington, the United States is returning to the Lebanese arena through the door. wide, while the French initiative still wavers and a holiday that may be extended may go until after the US presidential elections. Unless you decide to return the soul, despite the fact that there are no communications until it is time to float it.
Although it is not allowed to link the start of the negotiations to demarcate the maritime borders with the stagnation of the French initiative, the latter was abandoned due to the refusal of the “Shiite duo” to accept the roadmap proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron in exchange of this pair’s agreement to free Washington’s hand to mediate between Lebanon and Israel to resolve the conflict. Among them, on the demarcation of borders, which led to the green light to start gas exploration in the Lebanese Special Economic Zone.
The President of Parliament was not in charge of announcing the framework agreement to start negotiations if he did not agree with his ally “Hezbollah”, despite the fact that his secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, avoided, in his last speech, which he dedicated to abolishing the French initiative, give any signal related to the start of the negotiations that was supposed. It was launched last July, but Washington, according to Lebanese sources, told Asharq Al-Awsat that it was slow to accept its launch and chose in the middle of this month to hold the first round of negotiations in the presence of the United States Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs. Near East, David Schenker.
Political sources confirm that Hezbollah’s silence over Nasrallah’s neglect of the issue of negotiations is proof of its tacit approval on the grounds that it made the decision to put itself under Berri’s cloak because it lacks the ability to interrupt or prevent these negotiations. He says that “Hezbollah” currently exercises positive opposition, and attributes the reason to its leadership wanting to distance itself by accusing it of obstructing the start of negotiations for gas exploration and for that reason there are those who hold it responsible for bringing the country into bankruptcy.
In other words, “Hezbollah” – according to these sources – decided to withdraw its threats to Israel from the discussion on the background of its seizure of Lebanese wealth in areas that are freely subject to the sovereignty of the Lebanese state. Financial and economic collapse.
These sources believe that Hezbollah has been convinced since last year, with the beginning of the financial and economic situation rolling towards the abyss, of the need to seek a way out that allows Lebanon to benefit from its wealth to stop this collapse, and it did not have no choice but to accept negotiations. Berri said in his press conference that the indirect negotiations will be carried out based on the experience of the tripartite mechanism that has existed since the signing of the Armistice Agreement and the Understanding of April 1996, in which the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri had a role in achieving this to stop the war launched by Israel against Lebanon under the slogan “The Grapes of Wrath”, and currently UN Resolution 1701, which ended the Israeli war against Lebanon in July 2006.
Berri did not invoke this trilogy to confirm that negotiations to demarcate land and sea borders will take place under the US administration and under the UN flag at UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, but to point out directly that Hezbollah has a connection to the April Understanding and Resolution 1701.
In this context, the same sources reveal that Hezbollah will not oppose Berri’s announcement, and wanted to invoke his mandate during the July War to negotiate with the then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who approached the president of the Council in conjunction with the arrival of the Lebanese government headed by President Fouad. Siniora, to a similar understanding that was behind Resolution 1701 of the UN Security Council.
And he confirms that the representative of “Hezbollah” in the government, Minister Muhammad Fneish, tried to put on record his reservation about Resolution 1701, so Siniora took the initiative to address him saying: “There is no place to bid, and I am the first to record your reservation. ” This prompted Fneish to withdraw his reservation.
Therefore, Hezbollah will not be able to act on the fact that Berri has not been given the green light to announce the framework agreement which, with the start of negotiations, is supposed to help reduce the level of tension in the south. Likewise, Hezbollah cannot participate in an auction directed at Berri, especially since indirect negotiations remain, until further notice, the only way for Lebanon to benefit from its oil wealth, because alternatives are not available and are governed by a terror balance ceiling to preserve the rules of engagement without any modification.
Consequently, Berri’s mandate – as these sources say – and in understanding with President Michel Aoun, to announce the framework of the agreement that will be entrusted to the army leadership to engage in indirect negotiations, led to the emergence of another political scenario for the different “Shiite duo” on stage aimed at overthrowing the French initiative. .
Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Washington has set zero hour for the start of these negotiations so that the president of the United States, Donald Trump, can benefit from them and use them in his battle against his rival, Joe Biden, to return to the White House in the elections scheduled for next November 3.
In the information from “Asharq Al-Awsat” that Iran, from the place of its political confrontation with the United States, will assume the status of observer because it cannot disrupt the negotiations to eliminate the suspicion that it is controlling the internal decision in Lebanon, and this is what constitutes an international shame for him, and that is why he wanted to show good will from a position of difference. In preparation to renew his negotiations with Washington immediately after the end of the US presidential elections.
