Lebanon proposes amendments to Israel maritime border deal

Lebanon has submitted to the United States a list of changes it would like to see in a proposal on how to delineate a contested maritime border with Israel, a top Lebanese official said on Tuesday.

US envoy Amos Hochstein has shuttled between Lebanon and Israel since 2020 to seal a deal that would pave the way for offshore energy exploration and defuse a potential source of conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Hochstein sent a draft proposal to Beirut last week. It was discussed on Monday by President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Deputy speaker of parliament Elias Bou Saab said he had earlier that day submitted to the US ambassador in Lebanon the amendments Beirut would like to see, without providing details.

He said he does not think the proposed changes would derail the deal and that, while the response did not signify approval of the draft, talks were so advanced that "we are done negotiating."

Speaking to local broadcaster LBCI, he said the draft deal had been produced by thinking "outside of the box."

"We started to talk about it as a business deal," Bou Saab said.

The 10-page draft appears to float an arrangement whereby gas would be produced by a company under a Lebanese licence in the disputed Qana prospect, with Israel receiving a share of revenues.

While that company has been officially named, Lebanese officials have publicly suggested a role for TotalEnergies SE. A top Israeli official was meeting company representatives in Paris on Monday, according to a source briefed on the matter.

Bou Saab on Tuesday said that, according to the draft deal, Lebanon had secured all of the maritime blocs it considered its own.

He added that Lebanon will not pay one cent from its share of Qana to Israel.

(Reuters)