Mikati on Oct. 14 during an interview in Beirut with Reuters. (Credit: Ashraf Shazly/AFP)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday said that he would consult with President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri on the indirect negotiations with Israel on the maritime border between Lebanon and occupied Palestine.
Here’s what we know:
• “Mikati indicated that he would consult with President Michel Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to determine the Lebanese position” on the talks, a statement issued by the premier’s office said Wednesday.
• The statement came after Mikati met on Wednesday with Amos Hochstein, the US envoy that serves as a pointman for the long-stalled talks. The US ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea also sat in on the meeting.
• Hochstein, the US State Department’s senior advisor on energy security, arrived in Beirut on Tuesday, with local press saying he was bearing concrete proposals on the border negotiations.
• The US envoy met Wednesday with Lebanon's army chief, Joseph Aoun, in a sit-down the US embassy dubbed as "fruitful." Hochstein is scheduled to meet with Berri and President Aoun as well during his trip to Lebanon.
• Lebanon and Israel entered into indirect talks on a disputed stretch of maritime territory — potentially rich in petroleum resources — in October 2020, however the talks stuttered to a halt in May 2021.