The issue of maritime border demarcation with Israel has resurfaced in recent hours, particularly after the Director General of General Security, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, revived the negotiating line 29, emphasizing Lebanon’s right to respond to any Israeli activities related to the extraction of oil and gas from any maritime point within this line “as if it were subjected to an aggression against its sovereignty and rights.” He also reminded that “the American side is still awaiting a response from the Lebanese authorities regarding what the American mediator Amos Hochstein conveyed to them during his recent visit to Beirut,” so that the Lebanese response would serve as a gateway to reopening “the door for discussion and negotiation once again.”
In this context, sources monitoring the demarcation file expect that “the next few weeks will be crucial in the process of resuming the negotiations,” especially since “the countdown for the one-month deadline announced by President Nabih Berri to return to the indirect negotiation table mediated by the Americans is nearing its end.” The sources expressed belief that “the Lebanese side will initiate in the upcoming days the activation of communication channels with the American mediator, in light of what Ibrahim conveyed regarding the atmosphere he sensed during his visit to Washington, indicating that the American administration is keen to conclude this file in order to defuse potential triggers that could lead to an explosion in the border situation on the southern Lebanese front with Israel.”
