Israeli and Lebanese officials on Wednesday morning sat down in the same room — or tent, to be exact — for indirect maritime border negotiations in what has been called a “historic” achievement with the potential to bring more stability and prosperity to the region.
However, both countries have stressed that the talks, which lasted for about two hours, are merely aimed at resolving a decade-old dispute on the exact delineation of each other’s territorial waters in an area that may contain undersea natural gas reserves, and do not presage peace negotiations or a normalization process.
The next round of talks is scheduled for October 28, officials said.
The meeting — a rare official interaction between Lebanon and Israel, which have no diplomatic relations — were hosted by the United Nations and mediated by the United States. The session was held in a large open tent at the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force in Naqoura, about 200 meters north of the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Lebanese delegation chief Bassam Yassin indicated in a statement after Wednesday’s talks that the maritime negotiations with Israel were unlikely to bring immediate results, but expressed optimism that they would in due time.
“It is a first step in the thousand-mile march of the demarcation of the southern borders,” Yassin says, without mentioning Israel by name. “Based on the supreme interest of our country, we are looking forward to the wheel of negotiations running at a pace that enables us to achieve this within a reasonable timeframe.” Read More https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-and-lebanese-officials-launching-first-border-negotiations-in-30-years/
