Lebanon is interested in resuming border talks with Israel in order to start developing offshore oil and gas fields as soon as possible. The republic's acting foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said this in an interview with LBCI television on Sunday.
"An agreement between the parties on the demarcation of the maritime border could be reached by September as a result of indirect contacts under the auspices of the United States," he stressed. The acting minister noted that the Lebanese government is "waiting for a written response to its proposals, which were transmitted in mid-June to Israel through Amos Hoekstein, the US State Department's senior adviser for global energy security, who is mediating between the parties."
On July 1, US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea informed President Michel Aoun of Israel's agreement to resume negotiations in Nakoura, where the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is headquartered, which were suspended in 2021. According to the Al Akhbar newspaper, the American diplomat explained that Israel "is forcing the development of the Karish offshore field, hoping to occupy a niche as a supplier of gas to Europe". At the same time, Shea warned the head of the republic that the development of this gas field, which borders on Lebanon's Qana field, "is important for global energy security."
Lebanon and Israel are disputing a shelf area of 856 square kilometers, each side considers it part of its exclusive economic zone in the Eastern Mediterranean. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the maritime border between the two neighbors, which have been formally at war since 1948, has not yet been established.
Hezbollah threats
On June 6, the Lebanese government protested Israel's intentions to begin developing the Karish gas field before the maritime border between the two neighbors is demarcated. The diplomatic demarche on Beirut's part came after the arrival of a British-Greek Energean Power offshore platform to extract, store, and ship gas to the Mediterranean coast.
On June 9, Hezbollah Shia party leader Hassan Nasrullah demanded that Greece "withdraw its rig immediately and not get involved in the Israeli provocation against Lebanon." He threatened that Hezbollah fighters had "technical capabilities" to prevent the development of the Karish field, no matter how well the site was guarded.
On Saturday, Hezbollah's armed wing reported a reconnaissance operation carried out by three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the skies over the disputed border area between Lebanon and Israel. A statement broadcast by Al-Mayadeen TV indicated that the three drones collecting intelligence information were of different sizes and were not designed for air strikes.
For its part, the Israeli army press office reported the destruction of three drones that flew into Israel's maritime economic zone from Lebanon.
Hochstein mission
In a meeting on June 14 with the American emissary, President Aoun reiterated his agreement to draw the border line from reference point 23 at Naqoura . In doing so, he demanded that the entire area of the Qana gas field, which borders the Israeli Karish field, be retained by Lebanon. The president handed over to Hochstein written proposals from the Lebanese side to solve the border dispute with Israel over ownership of the offshore blocks where the oil and gas fields are located.
According to the Annahar news portal , the mediator may arrive in Beirut again before the end of July with an answer from the Israelis. According to him, the Israeli side continues to insist on handing over part of the Qana gas field, which is knowingly unacceptable for Lebanon. For this reason, Hochstein put forward an initiative to divide the sea shelf and establish an international consortium to jointly develop hydrocarbon resources.
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Based on materials from TASS