Naqoura | Lebanon and Israel, two neighbors still officially at war, are holding technical discussions on Wednesday to delimit their maritime border and remove obstacles to hydrocarbon prospecting, the second round of unprecedented negotiations under the aegis of Washington and the UN.
As for the inaugural session of October 14, discussions between Lebanese and Israeli delegations, which will take place over two days, began Wednesday morning at UN premises in Naqoura, a town in southern Lebanon bordering on Israel, reported the National News Agency (ANI).
After several years of American diplomatic efforts behind the scenes, Lebanon and Israel unveiled in early October the launch of these talks, “historic” according to Washington. Mediation is now provided by a senior American diplomat, John Deschent.
Lebanon insists on the “technical” and non-political nature of the discussions, insisting that they are “indirect” negotiations, that is to say that the two teams do not speak to each other.
On Wednesday again, the negotiators met at a border base of UNIFIL, a UN force deployed to monitor the blue line which acts as a border.
UNIFIL helicopters flew over the area cordoned off by roadblocks, as the army and UN force carried out patrols, according to an AFP photographer.
“Today’s session is the first technical session, detailed discussions on demarcation should begin,” predicts Laury Haytayan, expert on good governance of hydrocarbon resources in the Middle East.
The maritime dispute between the two neighbors concerns an area of 860 square kilometers. The file is particularly strategic for a bankrupt Lebanon, which relies on prospecting to stop an economic collapse which has only worsened for a year.
“Claim the maximum”
For Ms. Haytayan, Lebanon intends to “claim the maximum it can obtain”, and even plans to go “beyond the 860 square kilometers” in question.
This would include the Karish natural gas field, currently operated by Israel. “We have to wait for the reaction of the Israelis,” said Haytayan.
For a year now, Lebanon has experienced an economic recession accompanied by a depreciation of the national currency and an increase in poverty. The international community refuses to release any financial aid without the adoption of reforms.
Despite this calamitous context, the authorities “want to send a signal to the Lebanese, to the Israeli and American negotiators that they are not at the negotiating table in a weak position”, underlines Mrs. Haytayan.
The talks caused a stir in Lebanon.
The Shiite movement of Hezbollah, heavyweight in political life and enemy of Israel, criticized with its ally Amal the presence of civilians in the Lebanese delegation, demanding a team composed entirely of soldiers.
A devastating war pitted Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, killing more than 1,200 in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.
Since then, routine tripartite meetings have been organized by UNIFIL with military officials from the two neighbors.
“Positive voices”
On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz hailed “positive voices” in Lebanon speaking of “peace with Israel”, even though Lebanese officials insist that the negotiations do not pave the way for normalization.
In an interview Monday with the Lebanese channel Al-Jadeed, Claudine Aoun, the daughter of the Lebanese president, had indeed affirmed that a peace could be envisaged “but that all the problems must first be solved”.
Asked if she would oppose a peace treaty with Israel, Ms Aoun replied: “Why would I oppose it (…) do we really have to stay in a state of war?”
In addition to maritime demarcation, land border talks should be conducted separately within the framework of UNIFIL tripartite meetings.
The negotiations are taking place in a context of strong tensions in the eastern Mediterranean around hydrocarbons and the delimitation of maritime borders, also involving Turkey, Greece and Cyprus, among others.