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A UNIFIL Navy ship patrols in the Mediterranean Sea next to a base of the UN peacekeeping force, off the southern town of Naqoura, Lebanon, May 4, 2021. (Hussein Malla/AP)
After a nearly six-month pause, Lebanon and Israel on Tuesday resumed indirect talks with US mediation over their disputed maritime border.
The resumption comes after the new Biden administration took over in Washington at the beginning of the year. Lebanon has sunk deeper into an economic and financial crisis that started in late 2019 a culmination of decades of corruption and mismanagement by the political class.
The small Mediterranean country is eager to resolve the border dispute with Israel, paving the way for potential lucrative oil and gas deals.
Aoun: Lebanon s border talks with Israel serve regional stability
Lebanese President Micheal Aoun in Beirut, Lebanon on March 17, 2021 [Lebanese Presidency/Anadolu Agency] May 4, 2021 at 9:13 am
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said yesterday that Lebanon s indirect talks with Israel over their maritime borders reflect Beirut s desire to continue maintaining stability and security in the region .
Aoun made the remarks during a meeting with the Lebanese negotiating team held in Beirut in the presence of the Armed Forces Commander, General Joseph Aoun, the Presidency said in a statement.
According to the statement, Aoun has provided the negotiating delegation with his directions and stressed the importance of correcting the maritime borders in accordance with international laws and regulations, as well as Lebanon s right to invest its natural resources in the exclusive economic zone.
Lebanon and Israel are resuming US-mediated talks regarding a dispute over their Mediterranean Sea border that has held up hydrocarbon exploration in the potentially gas-rich area.
The talks, between countries still technically at war, kicked off at the UN base in the town of Naqura in southern Lebanon, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.
Lebanon and Israel took part in indirect talks to discuss demarcation last year. But they stalled after Lebanon demanded a larger area, including part of the Karish gas field, where Israel has given exploration rights to a Greek firm.
The talks last year were supposed to discuss a Lebanese demand for 860sq km (330 square miles) of territory in the disputed maritime area, according to a map sent to the United Nations in 2011.