Lebanese delegation chief Waseem Yassin indicates in a statement that the maritime negotiations with Israel are unlikely to bring immediate results, but expresses optimism that they will in due time.
Lebanon and Israel met today for about an hour and a half for the first border talks in 30 years, in a bid to settle a dispute over demarcating gas-rich exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean.
The negotiations are being held under UN auspices and with American mediation.
A helicopter flies over a base of the UN peacekeeping force, in the town of Naqoura, Lebanon, Wednesday, October 14, 2020. (AP/Bilal Hussein)
Both sides have stressed that the issues to be settled are thoroughly technical and do not presage a future normalization of ties.
“It is a first step in the thousand-mile march of the demarcation of the southern borders,” Yassin says, without mentioning Israel once by name. “Based on the supreme interest of our country, we are looking forward to the wheel of negotiations running at a pace that enables us to achieve this within a reasonable timeframe.”
— Aaron Boxerman
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