Israel, Lebanon talking ‘nearly every day’ in bid to avoid conflict

Reuters reports that Israeli and Lebanese officials have been “holding talks nearly every day” over Lebanese complaints about a barrier Israel is erecting along the two countries’ borders.

A spokesperson for UNIFIL, the UN force in south Lebanon charged with keeping the peace and carrying out the UN’s demand in UNSC Resolution 1701 that Hezbollah disarm tells the wire service: “There is a full engagement from all the sides and there have been meetings almost on a daily basis. The dialogue is open. No one has ever walked out from these meetings.”

Lebanon and Israel also disagree about where each country’s economic waters lie, a dispute that sparked an exchange of threats between the two countries once natural gas reserves were believed to be located under the disputed zone.

Reuters adds:

Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL were already holding three-way talks every few weeks in a building on the border near the peacekeepers’ base at Naqoura in southern Lebanon. They are now being held more often, [spokesperson Andrea] Tenenti said, along with indirect talks conducted through UNIFIL.

“There is a will to keep this dialogue open … I think now, beside the heightened rhetoric, the reality on the ground is different and there is no appetite for instability or for war,” Tenenti said.