Lebanon, Israel closer to deal in maritime border dispute

| | Beirut
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Lebanon, Israel closer to deal in maritime border dispute

Tuesday, 02 August 2022 | AP | Beirut

Lebanon and Israel are getting closer to reaching a deal in a more than a decade-old maritime border dispute between the two neighbors, a US Envoy and Lebanese officials said Monday.

Lebanon and Israel have been officially at war since Israel's creation in 1948 and both countries claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea. Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser for energy security at the U.S. State Department who has been mediating between the two neighbors, expressed optimism after his meetings Monday in Beirut with Lebanon's president, caretaker prime minister and parliament speaker.

The joint meeting between Hochstein and the top leaders may indicate that a breakthrough could be near and that Lebanon's political leadership backs such a deal. “The atmosphere is positive and the gap of disagreements in this field is narrowing,” Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab told reporters after the meeting.

Hochstein arrived in Beirut on Sunday to inform Lebanon of Israel's response to Beirut's June proposal over the disputed sea border area.

Following his last visit to Lebanon in June, Hochstein told the U.S.-funded Alhurra television that the Lebanese government took “a very strong step forward” by presenting a more united approach, and anticipated that there could be progress to reach a settlement.

“I remain optimistic that we can make continuous progress as we have over the last several weeks,” Hochstein said in brief comments after the 90-minute meeting at the presidential palace.

He added that he looks “forward to coming back to the region" and “being able to make the final arrangements.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri described the talks as “positive.”

Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib told the local Al-Jadeed TV that major progress has been made.

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