Following a series of communications and "text messages" urging his return to Beirut, the anticipation for officials comes to an end today with a "brief" visit by U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein arriving from Tel Aviv, as described by sources accompanying the visit. This denotes the limited time allotted for meetings primarily focused on presidential and "relevant ministries" if time permits, relaying the outcome of his consultations with the Israeli side regarding the official Lebanese proposal to adopt Line 23 as a basis for delineating Lebanon's southern maritime borders, including the entire Qana field.
Amid escalating political disputes among the three presidents, Michel Aoun, Nabih Berri, and Najib Mikati, and a near cessation of direct communication among them due to recent attacks and counterattacks impacting presidential relations, sources confirmed to "Nidaa al-Watan" that "there will be no tripartite meeting at the Baabda Palace gathering Aoun, Berri, and Mikati with Hochstein as occurred during his last visit, which will compel him to revert to meeting them 'individually'. He will visit Baabda Palace in the afternoon followed by Ain al-Tineh and the Grand Serail later to present the results of what he has reached with the Israelis, in addition to the outcomes of meetings he held the day before in Paris, particularly with executives from the French company 'Total' regarding the extraction of oil and gas from the Lebanese blocks."
According to information that preceded the visit and set the atmosphere for it, sources revealed that "the American mediator does not carry a final Israeli answer regarding the Lebanese border proposal as the official Lebanon demanded within the deadline set by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, rather he will relay an Israeli proposal to defer the final answer until after the Israeli legislative elections, linking it to internal political conflicts in Israel, especially given the current government's need to prevent the opposition led by Benjamin Netanyahu from exploiting the maritime demarcation agreement with Lebanon against the coalition of the current Prime Minister Yair Lapid."
In parallel to the postponement of the final answers until after the Israeli elections, sources conveyed that Hochstein "might propose to Lebanese officials the possibility of obtaining guarantees to ensure the commencement of Total's exploration in Block 9, as it holds promising gas reserves, concurrently with Israel commencing gas extraction from the Karish field next month. Otherwise, if Lebanon does not agree to this proposal, all matters will be frozen pending the final demarcation agreement after the Israeli legislative elections."
