US energy envoy hands maritime border proposal to Lebanon

Lebanese President Michel Aoun was handed on Wednesday a written proposal from the US Energy Envoy, Amos Hochstein, on how to demarcate Lebanon's maritime border with Israel, local media reported.

The letter, carried by US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, reportedly contained what was “verbally agreed upon” during Hochstein’s visit to Beirut on 8 February.

According to Lebanese newspapers, this primarily involved starting Lebanon’s negotiations from “Line 23”, instead of “Line 29”, the latter of which being a significant expansion of Lebanon’s territorial claims.

Lebanon and Israel have no set maritime boundaries, and have been engaged in on-and-off negotiations for more than a decade to demarcate them.

Negotiations have been complicated by the fact that Lebanon and Israel are still technically at war and the public of both countries loathe to ‘concede’ anything to the other.

At stake are billions of dollars, as the disputed area is suspected to be rich in hydrocarbons. Exploitation of fields which fall in the contested area cannot begin until the borders are delineated.

In the last few months there has been more movement on the maritime file, with Hochstein saying he was “optimistic” for a deal after his visits to Beirut and Tel Aviv in February. In an interview before his departure from Beirut, Hochstein said “it’s time for moving on to a deal.”  

According to previous reporting from The New Arab, this round of negotiations has been accompanied by feelings of good will from each side.

Negotiations have focused on ways to ensure the “common interests” of both sides are satisfied, rather than focusing on the contradicting points, a well-informed Lebanese source said at the time.

Ensuring the integrity of gas fields and minimising the amount of resources that have to be jointly managed between Israel and Lebanon is the priority of the current negotiations.