Lebanon And Israel Resume Indirect Talks On Maritime Border

Lebanon and Israel on Tuesday resumed indirect talks with U.S. mediation over their disputed maritime border after a nearly six-month pause.

Lebanon has sunk deeper into it economic and financial crisis that started in late 2019 which was a culmination of decades of corruption and mismanagement by the political class.

Resumption of talks comes after a new U.S. administration took over and Lebanon is eager to resolve the border dispute with Israel, paving the way for potential lucrative oil and gas deals.

Local media said the talks resumed at a U.N. post along the border known as Ras Naqoura, on the edge of the Lebanese border town of Naqoura. The Lebanese delegation will speak through U.N. and U.S. officials to the Israelis.

The U.S. has been mediating the issue for about a decade, but only late last year was a breakthrough reached on an agreement for a framework for U.S.-mediated talks.

In the second round of talks, the Lebanese delegation offered a new map that pushes for an additional 1,430 square kilometers (550 square miles) for Lebanon.

Already, American Ambassador John Desrocher, who serves as the U.S. mediator, arrived in Beirut Monday night to take part in the talks.

Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic relations and are technically in a state of war. They each claim about 860 square kilometers of the Mediterranean Sea as being within their own exclusive economic zones.

Lebanon’s leadership is not united behind the army command’s decision regarding the extended area.

On the other hand, Israel already has developed a natural gas industry elsewhere in its economic waters, producing enough gas for domestic consumption and to export to Egypt and Jordan.