Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati: “We are walking very slowly and carefully through a field of political mines in order to bring the country to safety.” While in Israel they anticipate events and talk about the ratification of the maritime border demarcation agreement without a referendum and that the agreement is imminent, in Lebanon, they are concerned with internal economic problems in addition to the agreement with Israel.
After his meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that the file of demarcating the maritime borders between Lebanon and Israel “is witnessing great progress.” Mikati added that “all the files were presented, and special emphasis was placed on the necessity of holding the presidential elections, the file of the displaced Syrians, the agreement with the International Monetary Fund and electricity, and in particular the educational file,” stressing that “the file of demarcation of the maritime borders (with Israel) is witnessing great progress. Blinken announced that “the United States will continue to work with Lebanon to achieve peace.”
According to reports received in Israel, Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who met with Blinken on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, informed the ministers of the latest developments in the negotiations with Lebanon, while Israeli media confirmed that the agreement would be put on the government’s table in the coming days.
The Israeli opposition attacked the agreement, claiming that it includes major concessions to Lebanon and is considered a “shameful surrender agreement” as described by Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations previously – Danny Danon.
Mikati had stressed Lebanon’s adherence to its sovereignty, wealth and rights in its territorial waters. He said during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly in New York: “We are walking very slowly and cautiously through a political minefield in order to bring the country to safety,” pledging to move forward with all the necessary reforms to get out of the crisis.
Last November, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah made it clear that the negotiations to demarcate the maritime borders do not signify the beginning of a process of “normalization with the occupation.” He stressed that there he tried to portray things as a process of normalization, and these statements are baseless. On the 17th of last September, Nasrallah stressed that it is not possible to allow the extraction of oil and gas from the Karish field before Lebanon obtains its demands, noting that this is a “red line”.
The dispute between Israel and Lebanon, which could lead to an armed conflict if the Israeli efforts to extract gas from the “Qersh” field continues, is the way to delineate the maritime border between the two countries. While Lebanon prefers a continuous line method of the land border, Israel prefers the method of a line at an angle of 90 degrees close to the maritime border. Of course, each method favors the party that supports it at the expense of the other. While the Charter of the United Nations calls for the resolution of the maritime dispute on the basis of equity.
