Deputy Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Elias Bou Saab, confirmed today, Tuesday, that Lebanon has submitted to the United States a list of amendments it wants to introduce to a proposal on how to delineate a disputed maritime border with Israel.
Bou Saab added that he presented earlier today to the US ambassador to Lebanon the “amendments” that Beirut wants, according to the “Reuters” agency.
This came as developments accelerated on the line of negotiations on the demarcation of the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel, after Beirut received the American written proposal, after months of shuttle tours by the United States mediator, Amos Hochstein, on the Beirut-Tel Aviv line, and the accompanying escalation by Israel and Hezbollah almost topped what had been accomplished.
Sources familiar with the atmosphere of the demarcation file told Al-Arabiya.
net earlier that “Lebanon obtained in the agreement what it was demanding, i. e. Line 23, in addition to the Qana field, without deducting any part of the Lebanese oil blocks (8, 9 and 10). In return for Israel keeping the entire Karish field, as for the safe zone, or what is known as the raft line, it remains under Lebanese sovereignty.
She also added: “We are in the last minutes of concluding the agreement, which is in Lebanon’s interest, and there are many factors that played a role in accelerating the negotiations.
“In the context, the sources indicated that the official signing ceremony of the agreement will be at the headquarters of the international peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL) in Naqoura, south of Lebanon, in the presence of the Lebanese and Israeli parties, the American mediator and representatives of the United Nations being the sponsor of the negotiations, to be registered later with the United Nations as a recognized decree. internationally.
Opposition voices emerged from experts and politicians to the official Lebanon overthrow of the 29th line in the negotiations (containing gas and oil wealth and Lebanon’s profit of 2,430 km2) and the adoption of the 23rd line, at a time when the Lebanese army had returned and developed a study in 2019 based on documents and maps, in which the 29th line was defined for the region’s borders. The exclusive Lebanese economy.
It is noteworthy that with Lebanon giving an official response to the American mediator’s proposal, the Israeli mini-government will meet in the next few days in order to study the proposal and give its position on it, to be signed in the presence of the two parties and the mediator. .
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