The issue of the disputed land and sea border between Lebanon and Israel has returned to the forefront as discussions on this matter are expected to intensify after the UNIFIL commander presented a new proposal for a solution.
Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Reuters that new ideas have been proposed in “US back-channel mediation” of the Israeli-Lebanese maritime dispute.
“I hope that in the coming months, or by the end of the year, we will manage to reach a solution or at least a partial solution to the dispute,” Steinitz told Reuters.
Following a meeting between Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday, an indirect tripartite meeting between Lebanon and Israel will be held by the United Nations at the Naqoura border point to complete negotiations aimed at finding solutions to the land borders dispute, according to ministerial sources.
Military sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that UNIFIL Commander Major General Michael Beary presented a new proposal for a solution, refusing to give further details.
The sources pointed to continuous US efforts in this regard, especially those initiated by Acting Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield, who visited Lebanon and Israel last February and met officials from both sides to discuss a solution to prevent any confrontation between them.
Commander of the UNIFIL Spanish battalion, General Jose Luis Sanchez Martinez, told the Central News Agency (CNA) said the concrete wall would be on the agenda of the tripartite meeting in Naqoura, as well as the Lebanese demand for UNIFIL to draw a blue line in the maritime area, which guarantees the freedom of work of companies charged with oil exploration in the Lebanese area.
Israel began a gas exploration plan in the eastern Mediterranean nearly 10 years ago after the discovery of two large gas fields. Other fields have been discovered in Egypt and Cyprus and companies are now drilling in Lebanese waters as well.
