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Beirut: After years of US mediation, negotiations will begin on Wednesday at the headquarters of the United Nations force in southern Lebanon, under the auspices of Washington, to demarcate the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel, which was accelerated by the possibility to contain the disputed area over oil or gas.
Lebanon and Israel announced earlier this month that they had reached an understanding to begin negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations at its headquarters in the border city of Naqoura, in a step that Washington called “historic” between two countries in state. of war.
The negotiations come weeks after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain announced a normalization agreement with Israel under the auspices of the United States, prompting observers to pause at the “time” to announce the start of talks for the administration. of US President Donald Trump before the presidential election next month.
In Naqoura, the delegations of the two parties must sit in the same room, provided they do not speak directly, but rather through a United Nations representative, according to Lebanese officials, and in the presence of the United States Under Secretary of State for Human Affairs. Near East, David Schenker, the facilitator of the opening session, with US Ambassador John Deroche in the role. Mediator in negotiations.
Israel described the negotiations, which refer to an area extending to some 860 square kilometers, as “direct”, which Lebanon insists on denying.
The Lebanese delegation includes four members, military and two civilians, they are Brigadier General Bassam Yassin, Colonel Mazen Basbous, technical expert Najeeb Masih and a member of the Oil Sector Authority, Wissam Shabat.
On the other hand, the Israeli delegation includes six members, among them the director general of the Ministry of Energy, Udi Adiri, the diplomatic adviser of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuven Azar, and the head of the Department of Strategic Affairs of the army.
The appointment of politicians by Israel within the delegation generated controversy in Lebanon, which insists on the nature of the technical negotiation, similar to the previous talks that took place in the framework of the Committee of Understanding in April after the Israeli process ” Grapes of Wrath “in 1996, or the negotiations to demarcate the Blue Line after the Israeli withdrawal in 2000, and finally the meeting. The trio, which has been held periodically since the 2006 war, led by UNIFIL, with the participation of soldiers from the two countries.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Tuesday that “technical negotiations and investigation should be limited to this particular issue.”
An American achievement?
In Israel, a source from the Energy Ministry told reporters that the matter “is important for Israel, but it is also crucial for the Lebanese side,” indicating that it can only take a few months if there are no obstacles.
He added that “our objective is to resolve the dispute over the demarcation of the maritime line,” and emphasized that “we are not under any illusions, our objective is not to create some kind of normalization or a peace process.”
Over the years, Washington led the mediation between the two parties, which intensified with the signing of Lebanon in 2018 of the first contract to explore for gas and oil in two areas of its territorial waters, one of which is found in the part disputed with Israel.
Hilal Khashan, professor of political science at the American University of Beirut, favors a solution. “Lebanon does not have a better option to be able to work in Block No. 9,” he says.
But the most important thing for him is to consider the timing of the negotiations. “The Americans pressed before the presidential elections to announce a new foreign policy achievement (…) the Trump administration wants to show that there is a path to peace in the region, and in the same way it will promote negotiations,” he explains.
It is not unlikely that the Lebanese will not care about the negotiations and their outcome, as they are mired in a living crisis due to the impact of the economic collapse.
The Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, who was in charge of the archive, hoped that if the demarcation was successful, there would be “discoveries” in the disputed area to help “pay off our debt.”
“moment of weakness”
Berri’s announcement of the “framework agreement” on the negotiations drew criticism in Lebanon, especially against Hezbollah, which is Israel’s arch enemy and has long viewed Washington as a “dishonest” mediator.
The Al-Akhbar newspaper, close to Hezbollah, considered on Monday in a file dedicated to the negotiations that “the decision to negotiate indirectly with the enemy represents an unprecedented moment of Lebanese political weakness.” And he saw that Israel seems to be the “beneficiary”, since its need “to put in place a mechanism of direct or indirect negotiation with a country like Lebanon represents a victory for the enemy, regardless of its consequences.”
However, Hezbollah, which Washington sees in him as an arm of Iran and classifies him as a “terrorist”, stated in a statement to its parliamentary bloc that the negotiations have nothing to do with “reconciliation” or “normalization policies. that has recently followed and that the Arab countries can follow. “
Khashan does not see the negotiation as a step towards future broader agreements, considering that “as long as there is no solution between the United States and Iran, nothing will change.”
Lebanon has long insisted on linking the demarcation of maritime borders with land borders, but the negotiations will focus solely on maritime borders, provided the demarcation of land borders is discussed, according to the United Nations, within the framework of the periodic tripartite meeting.
Khashan believes that the issue of demarcation of maritime borders is easy for that land.
He explains: “If an agreement on land borders is reached, this will raise a question about the need for Hezbollah’s weapons, as it continues to emphasize its need to restore the occupied part of the Shebaa farms and the Kafr Shuba hills.” .
He adds, “Hezbollah will not agree to surrender its weapons.”
