Maritime border negotiations between Lebanon and Israel postponed

The next round of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel on the limitation of the maritime borders between the two countries, scheduled for this Wednesday, has been postponed until further notice. A Lebanese security source has confirmed that the reason for the delay was Israel's rejection of its proposals.

However, last November, Israel accused Lebanon of having changed its position on the limitation of the maritime border too many times. The postponement of these talks therefore comes as no surprise after Israel has already warned of the country's continual change of position.

The fourth round of talks between the two countries was scheduled for Wednesday 2 December. The Israeli energy minister, Yuval Steinitz, has stated that they have reached an agreement with the US mediators to postpone the talks for a few weeks.

During this time and until the next date for the next round is known, the United States, which is acting as a mediator between the two parties, will maintain bilateral contacts with both countries.

For his part, Steinitz, in an interview with Israeli Army Radio last week, said there had been no progress after four rounds of talks and that Lebanon had "so far presented positions that add up to a provocation".

Negotiations began in October, with both delegations meeting at a UN base, with the aim of settling a dispute over its maritime borders that has delayed hydrocarbon exploration in a potentially gas-rich area. The disputed area is 860 square kilometres and both countries claim it is located in their respective Exclusive Economic Zones.

Israel and Lebanon are officially at war and have severed all diplomatic ties. The land border has been a scene of conflict for some time now. Both countries have been negotiating for months over the area corresponding to each other. Lebanon is demanding an additional 1,430 square kilometres (552 square miles) further south, which includes part of Israel's Karish gas field, according to Lebanese energy expert Laury Haytayan.

The negotiations were described as "historic" by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. However, from the outset, both Lebanese and Israeli officials have played down any hope that these talks could be the beginning of a peace process or normalisation of relations between the two countries.

These rounds are part of the context of the agreements on the normalisation of relations between Israel signed by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in addition to the worsening of the situation in the eastern Mediterranean, on hydrocarbons and the maritime border between Turkey, Greece and Cyprus.

Trump's departure from the US presidency is a countdown to these agreements for "normalising" relations between Lebanon and Israel, which would be a further victory in the field of his administration's foreign policy. But neither Israel nor Lebanon are making it easy for the United States to emerge victorious from this situation. Mr Biden's arrival could lead to the country's withdrawal as mediator in this conflict and leave it in the hands of the UN.