[UPDATE] Hochstein ‘optimistic’ about maritime border dispute negotiations after Baabda meeting

BEIRUT — Lebanon is holding on to several stances in its maritime border negotiations with Israel including demanding Line 23, not giving up “any gas fields” including Qana that intersects with bloc 9, and including bloc 8, which also exceeds Line 23 on the border, a source at Baabda Presidential Palace told L’Orient Today on Monday without specifying what the Israeli proposal was.

Here’s what we know:

    • The Presidential Palace source said that Lebanon did not agree to any sharing of profit with the Israelis and described the meeting as being “positive” and “better than many other previous meetings,” with Hochstein, who also according to the source, told Lebanese officials that he will “be absent [outside of Lebanon] for two weeks and return after receiving the Israeli stance,” on the matter.

    • Earlier today, the United States’ mediator in the Lebanese-Israeli maritime border negotiations said that he is “optimistic” regarding the course of the talks and that he looks “forward to coming back to the region to be able to make the final arrangement.” 

    • According to the state-owned National News Agency, Hochstein will meet on Monday with President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri at the Presidential Palace in Baabda.

    • Yesterday, upon his arrival in Lebanon, Hochstein met with Energy Minister Walid Fayad. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib was quoted in a tweet by the Foreign Ministry on Friday as saying that he was “optimistic” about reaching a deal to delineate the country’s maritime border with Israel.

    • The US State Department issued a statement on Saturday announcing Hochstein's visit, saying: "Following visits to Paris, Brussels, and Athens to discuss European energy security … Amos Hochstein will travel to Beirut July 31 to discuss sustainable solutions to Lebanon’s energy crisis, including the Biden Administration’s commitment to facilitating negotiations between Lebanon and Israel on the maritime boundary." The statement also said that "reaching a resolution is both necessary and possible, but can only be done through negotiations and diplomacy."

    • In a speech Sunday night, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the party would decide "how to behave" after seeing the results of Hochstein's visit. Earlier that day, Hezbollah had released a video purportedly showing footage from surveillance drones the party sent to the disputed Karish gas field, which appeared to show the ships Israel has deployed to the offshore field in the party's crosshairs.