Hezbollah continued its escalation regarding maritime border negotiations with Israel, reiterating its justification for launching drones towards the Israeli "Karish" field, stating that "the message from the drones was immediately effective." The party hinted that it "does not wait for official decisions and does not stop at political, sectarian, and regional divisions," nor does it "pay attention to statements made on demand," referring to the government's critical stance towards the party's actions last week.
Lebanon insists on the U.S. mediation led by Amos Hochstein, the Senior Advisor for Energy Security, who visited Beirut three weeks ago and held meetings with Lebanese officials, including President Michel Aoun, in an effort to find a settlement regarding the maritime border delineation between Lebanon and Israel.
Lebanese circles suggest that reaching an agreement on border delineation with Israel through U.S. mediation has become imminent, alongside Israeli indicators that mention an initial agreement on swapping the entire "Qana" field in favor of Lebanon for the entire "Karish" field in favor of Israel. However, uncertainty surrounds the fate of the 860 square kilometers area between line (1), which Israel claims as a border point, and point (23), which Lebanon considers its right. It remains unclear whether the talks have yielded Israeli approval of recognizing the entire disputed area (860 square kilometers) as belonging to Lebanon.
Lebanese sources closely following the delineation issue stated that Lebanon "will not give up an inch of its maritime rights," referring to the entire 860 square kilometers area and "Qana field," which is a maritime pocket that zigzags into the south of line 23. The sources emphasized Lebanon's rejection of any plan for sharing maritime wealth through a foreign or Arab company that would explore in the disputed area and distribute revenues to both parties, deeming it "an indirect form of normalization."
On the other hand, "Asharq Al-Awsat" reported information indicating that the agreement facilitated by U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein includes the principle of "the Qana well for Lebanon alone and the Karish well for Israel alone." It mentioned that most political leaders in Lebanon support this agreement, except for Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, which is why four drones were launched towards the Israeli economic zone and were destroyed in the air. The report stated that Tel Aviv "is seeking guarantees that Lebanon's position will be binding for Hezbollah and Amal, ensuring they will not launch drones at the Israeli wells."
