Report: Lebanon Inclined to Reject Hochstein's Proposal

W460

Lebanon seems to be inclined to reject U.S. envoy Amon Hochstein’s proposal regarding the demarcation of the sea border with Israel, a media report said on Friday.

“There is an inclination to reject the proposal in a polite way that does not infuriate the American side,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

According to the daily, President Michel Aoun has recently presided over a technical meeting that was attended by his adviser Salim Jreissati, Presidency Director General Antoine Choucair, Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s representative Butros Assaker, the head of the army’s hydrographic dept. Afif Ghayth, Lebanese Petroleum Administration member Wissam Chbat and the lawyer Maroun Zein.

“The committee studied the proposal without reaching a decision, but it left its meetings open to further consultations,” sources from the meeting told al-Akhbar.

“The dominant inclination within the committee is to reject Hochstein’s proposal, seeing as it does not fully grant the possible Qana field to Lebanon and rather leaves a pocket under the Israeli enemy’s sovereignty, which would create a problem between the state and some domestic forces that totally reject any form of engagement in what they consider to be normalization platforms,” the sources added.

Informed sources meanwhile warned that accepting the U.S. proposal would represent a “scandal.”

“It is like a maritime ambush aimed at preoccupying the Lebanese side with studying proposals whose unviability is known by the Americans,” the sources said.

Comments 4
Missing phillipo 11 March 2022, 16:22

Once again Lebanese leaders intransigence will prevent amongst other things,an improvement in the present problem of electricity supply within the country and save millions of $'s on the import from neighboring countries.
Perhaps they should see that even as the fighting continues, Russian oil and natural gas is flowing through Ukraine to Western Europe.
.

Thumb lebnanfirst 11 March 2022, 22:30

Gas flowing through Ukraine to Western Europe? Given current conditions one wanders.
The army’s technical team with very high confidence having confirmed line 29, why would any Lebanese even western oriented not see this as to Lebanon’s advantage as a true starting point.
Then negotiate… Wouldn’t that be acceptable even among Western nations?
That said, it’s not to be construed as support for the current “establishment”, quite the contrary is true. They don’t see it according to above, they see it as yet another opportunity to “score” between them and damned be the country.

Thumb i.report 11 March 2022, 16:55

Lebanon isn’t in the condition of negotiating anything, the country has completely disintegrated and no official has the required legitimacy to cut a deal.

Missing un520 11 March 2022, 19:49

“It is like a maritime ambush aimed at preoccupying the Lebanese side with studying proposals whose unviability is known by the Americans,” the sources said." This statement has Hezbollah fingerprints written all over it... Thanks again, Hezbollah, for another divine victory...