Aoun Urges No 'Preconditions' in Border Talks with Israel

President Michel Aoun held a meeting Tuesday evening with the members of the Lebanese delegation to the sea border talks with Israel, following the fifth round of negotiations in Ras al-Naqoura.

“The delegation’s members briefed President Aoun on the deliberations of the meeting, which was held with the participation of the U.S. delegation, whose head demanded that the negotiation be limited to the Israeli and Lebanese lines submitted to the U.N., or within the 860-square-kiolmeter area, contrary to the Lebanese stance and to the principle of negotiations without preconditions,” the Presidency said in a statement.

“Accordingly, President Aoun instructed the delegation that the continuation of the negotiations should not be confined to preconditions, but rather to the international law, which remains the guarantee for the continuation of the negotiations, in order to reach a just and fair solution,” the Presidency added.

The Lebanese want such a solution in order to “preserve the higher national interest and stability, and the right of the Lebanese to make use of their resources,” the Presidency said.

Talks were expected to resume Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to address the media.

To modify the 2011 map, Lebanese authorities must notify the U.N. of their new coordinates, but the president still has not signed the official decree on the changed border points.

A source at the Lebanese presidency told AFP earlier Tuesday that both Israel and Lebanon had demanded a different demarcation line.

"We don't accept the line they've proposed, and they don't accept ours, so we'll see what the mediator suggests," the source said.

Lebanon has insisted that the discussions with Israel are "technical" rather than political, and with the sides only communicating via the mediator.

Last month, Aoun demanded Israel halt all exploration in Karish until the dispute was settled.

In February 2018, Lebanon signed its first contract for offshore drilling for oil and gas in blocks 4 and 9, with a consortium comprising energy giants Total, ENI and Novatek.

Lebanon in April said initial drilling in Block 4 had shown traces of gas but no commercially viable reserves.

Lebanese politicians hope commercially viable hydrocarbon resources off the coast could help lift the debt-ridden country out of its worst economic crisis in decades.