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The sessions will take place at a border point belonging to the United Nations force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL), away from the media, amid extreme secrecy, and in the presence of representatives of the United Nations and the US diplomat. John DeRoucher, who facilitates negotiations between both parties.
Lebanon insists on the purely technical nature of indirect talks aimed exclusively at demarcation of maritime borders, while Israel talks about direct negotiations.
In 2018, Lebanon signed the first contract to explore gas and oil in two areas of its territorial waters, one of which, known as Block No. 9, is in the part disputed with Israel. Consequently, Lebanon has no option to operate in this territory except after the borders are demarcated.
The National Agency reported that the Lebanese delegation carried "Maps and damning documents showing points of disagreement and the Israeli enemy’s invasion of Lebanese right to annex part of Block 9".
The negotiations concern a marine area that extends to some 860 square kilometers, according to a map sent to the United Nations in 2011, and Lebanon later considered it based on incorrect estimates.
The Lebanese state is starting negotiations, according to Laurie Haitien, director of the Institute for Governance of Natural Resources in the Middle East and North Africa. "From the beginning to demand the maximum that can be obtained under the roof of international law and the law of the sea, that is, it wants to go beyond 860 square kilometers.".
Lebanon has always insisted in the past on linking the demarcation of maritime borders with land borders, but the negotiations will focus solely on maritime borders, provided that the demarcation of land borders is discussed, according to the United Nations, within the framework of the periodic tripartite meeting that has been held for years.
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The statement emphasized that Lebanon and Israel still hope those negotiations will lead to “the long-awaited solution.”
On Thursday, representatives of Lebanon and Israel wrapped up a third session of technical discussions on the delimitation of maritime borders in southern Lebanon under the auspices of the United Nations and US mediation, to be held next month.
Negotiations began in an opening session on the 14th of this month between two countries that consider themselves at war and aspire to share oil resources in regional waters, after years of mediation undertaken by Washington, which plays the role of mediator in the conversations.
The third session, which is a continuation of another that took place on Wednesday as part of the second round of indirect trading, began at around 10 a.m. local time (08:00 GMT) amid strict security measures taken by the Lebanese army in the border town of Naqoura.
The session lasted about four hours, after which the meeting was withdrawn, for a fourth meeting on the 11th of next month, according to a Lebanese source familiar with the progress of the negotiations.
The sessions will take place at a border point belonging to the United Nations Force in South Lebanon (UNIFIL) away from the media, in the presence of extreme secrecy and in the presence of United Nations representatives and the US diplomat John DeRoucher , in charge of facilitating negotiations between the two parties.
Lebanon insists on the purely technical nature of indirect talks aimed exclusively at demarcation of maritime borders, while Israel talks about direct negotiations.
In 2018, Lebanon signed the first contract to explore gas and oil in two areas of its territorial waters, one of which, known as Block No. 9, is in the part disputed with Israel. Consequently, Lebanon has no option to operate in this territory except after the borders are demarcated.
The National Agency reported that the Lebanese delegation had this Thursday “irrefutable maps and documents showing points of dispute and the violation of the Israeli enemy against the Lebanese right to annex part of Block 9”.
The negotiations concern a marine area that extends to some 860 square kilometers, according to a map sent in 2011 to the United Nations, and Lebanon later considered it based on erroneous estimates.
The Lebanese state advances in the negotiations, according to Laurie Haitien, director of the Institute for the Governance of Natural Resources in the Middle East and North Africa, “from the beginning to demand the maximum that can be obtained under the roof of international law and the Right of the sea, that is, it wants to go beyond 860 square kilometers. “
Lebanon has always insisted in the past on linking the demarcation of maritime borders with land borders, but negotiations will focus solely on maritime borders, provided that the demarcation of land borders is discussed, according to the United Nations, within the framework of the periodic tripartite meeting that has been held for years.
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