Lebanon and Israel agree to delineate their maritime borders

The conflict in the Middle East is gradually dying down. After the Abraham Agreements it seems that Israel is going to start making peace with more than one neighbouring country with which it has a historical enmity. Now it is Lebanon's turn, which far from wishing to normalise diplomatic relations has extended its hand to negotiate a delimitation of the maritime borders.

On Thursday the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri, announced the start of indirect talks with Israel on the delimitation of the maritime borders under the mediation of the United Nations and the United States after decades of dispute over the border waters in the Mediterranean.

Lebanon and Israel, which do not maintain diplomatic relations and are technically at war, have disputed their land and maritime borders for decades, including an area on the edge of three Lebanese blocks in the Mediterranean Sea.

At a press conference on Thursday, Berri pointed out that a draft agreement had been agreed. The meetings will be held under the United Nations flag in the city of Naqoura, headquarters of the UN Peace Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

These talks are still undated, but the Speaker of Parliament stated that the Lebanese Army will lead the talks on the Lebanese side to draw the "white line" in the Mediterranean and put an end to the border disputes that have been going on since the State of Israel was created in 1948.
 

"The United States has been asked to act as a mediator to demarcate maritime borders and is prepared to do so. When an agreement is finally reached, the maritime border agreement will be sealed with the United Nations," said President Berri.

The framework of the agreement to negotiate with Israel was reached on 7 July, before Washington sanctioned individuals close to Berri who belonged to the Shia group Amal. He also indicated Lebanon's willingness to demarcate the borders and pointed out that the United States is making "every effort to conclude the negotiations as soon as possible".

Berri recalled that last year's visit by the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, led to the resumption of the talks which had been at a standstill for a decade. The idea is to redefine the maritime demarcation that currently exists in order to divide the space and stop conflicts in the Mediterranean Sea.

"If the demarcation is successful, there is a very wide margin, especially as regards Blocks 8 and 9 (which share a border with Israel's Economic Exclusivity Zone), for it to be one of the reasons for paying our debts," Berri said.

The conflict between Israel and Lebanon has not fallen on deaf ears. But economic interests take precedence, especially at this time of Lebanese weakness following the severe economic crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2018, Lebanon granted licences to the oil companies TOTAL of France, ENI of Italy and NOVATEK of Russia to carry out the country's first offshore energy exploration in two deepwater blocks. One of these blocks is number 9, which is located precisely in the waters disputed by the Lebanese government and Israel.

This turnaround on the part of Lebanon vis-à-vis future negotiations with its enemy comes at a time when the Mediterranean country is experiencing the worst economic crisis in its history, which was aggravated by the major explosion in the port of Beirut that devastated the capital and left over 190 dead, some 6,000 injured and hundreds of buildings and infrastructure seriously damaged.