Lebanese President Michel Aoun. (Credit: AFP file)
BEIRUT — A written proposal conveyed by US envoy Amos Hochstein, who is mediating the indirect maritime border negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, is "expected to arrive in Baabda before the end of this week," according to a statement published Monday on President Michel Aoun's Twitter.
Lebanon's point person for US-mediated talks to demarcate its maritime border with Israel, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab, met with Hochstein after arriving in New York last Monday to work out a few remaining disagreements related to the maritime deal, a senior source familiar with the state of negotiations had told Reuters. Aoun had said that negotiations for a deal between the two enemy states have entered their "final stages."
Last week, Aoun said that he was briefed by Bou Saab on the results of his meeting with Hochstein in New York and the latest developments in the maritime border demarcation file, adding that a written proposal would be sent to Baabda "before the end of this week."
A maritime deal between the two states would help determine which oil and gas resources belong to which country, paving the way for more exploration and could help avert conflict between heavily armed Hezbollah and its sworn enemy, Israel.