Why are foes Israel and Lebanon now speaking?

• Indirect negotiations are being held between Lebanon and Israel
• Israel is to begin developing the Karish field, part of it is included in lebanon’s maritime border.
• A strategy put up by US would establish a marine commercial border between the two nations.

Indirect negotiations are being held between Lebanon and Israel, which are technically at war and are trying to resolve a boundary issue that might cost billions of dollars.

Israel intends to begin developing the gas-rich Karish field, which is situated in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The Levantine basin may contain as much as 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 122 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to a 2010 US Geological Survey estimate. In comparison, that would put the gas reserves of the basin at 7% of those of Russia, which are the largest in the world.

In a briefing to media on Sunday, Orna Mizrahi, a senior research fellow at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, stated that the primary obstacle to a deal between the two parties was a “change in the Lebanese stance” on the location of the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon.

The main point of contention is exactly how to determine the border line that runs from Lebanon and Israel’s land border to the marine economic barrier between the two nations.
Around 860 square kilometres have been the subject of the dispute for many years, with Lebanon asserting that its maritime border lies to the south of Israel’s claim. The Karish field was entirely within Israel’s claimed territory under those boundary lines.

Also Read

Microsoft caught Iran linked hackers targeting Israel and Lebanon

Microsoft has suspended in excess of 20 OneDrive applications made by the...

According to Mizrahi, however, Lebanon recently changed its first maritime border claim, shifting it farther south and claiming an additional 1,400 square kilometres. A portion of the Karish field, where Israel is conducting explorations, is included in the additional area.

Lebanon maintained the field shouldn’t be explored until it had finished negotiations to define the maritime boundary on June 5, when London-based oil and gas exploration company Energean came to start developing Karish on behalf of Israel.

While Israel is eager to present itself as a new natural gas supplier to Europe as an alternative to Russia, Lebanon, which is struggling with a withering economy and a disjointed government, is in desperate need of fresh sources of income from oil and gas exploration. Both parties would be able to take advantage of the resources of the Mediterranean without being hindered by legal restrictions or the danger of armed conflict.

According to Lebanese energy expert Laury Haytayan, Lebanon currently needs this agreement more than Israel does. She also noted that a deal would give Israel security by allowing it to explore and drill without the “continuous fear of potential escalation” with Lebanon.

A compromise strategy put up by the US would establish an S-shaped marine commercial border between the two nations. The plan calls for the entire Karish field to be given to Israel and the majority of Qana, another area with the potential to produce commercially viable gas, to be given to Lebanon.

Also Read

Israeli settler murders Palestinian man

An Israeli settler stabbed and killed a young Palestinian man on Tuesday...