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Lebanon-Israel sea demarcation talks in 'final stages', says president

September 20, 2022 at 1:15 pm

President of Lebanon Michel Aoun in Beirut, Lebanon on 14 October 2021 [Lebanese Presidency/Anadolu Agency]

Negotiations to demarcate Lebanon’s southern maritime borders with Israel have reached the “final stages”, Lebanese President Michel Aoun announced yesterday.

His remarks came as the Lebanese parliament speaker arrived in New York for US-mediated  talks with Israel over the disputed oil-rich area of the Mediterranean which spans 860 square kilometres.

Aoun said on Twitter that it was Lebanon’s “right to explore for oil and gas resources in our border waters.”

The joint demarcation talks were first introduced in October 2020, under the auspices of the United Nations. Five rounds of negotiations have since been held, the last of which was in May 2021, but the talks were said to have halted over mutual disagreements.

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