Source: L'Orient Today
The official website of the Kataeb Party leader
Friday 18 March 2022 15:13:28
President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati met in Baabda on Friday to formulate an official response to American diplomat Amos Hochstein, who visited Beirut on Feb. 9 and 10 to mediate maritime border negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.
Here’s what we know:
• Hochstein, the US senior advisor for global energy security, had announced that the area disputed between Lebanon and its Israeli neighbor covered the 860 square kilometers located between line 1 officially claimed by Israel and line 23 claimed by Lebanon to the United Nations in 2011.
• President Aoun had formed a commission to prepare the Lebanese response to Hochstein. This commission met several times at Baabda Palace, far from the media.
• Hezbollah has said that negotiations are a matter that concerns the state and not their party.
• Negotiations between Lebanon and Israel on the maritime border have been interrupted since December 2020. Several opposition groups, and some senior members of the Lebanese Army, accuse the government of renouncing Lebanon's rights.