‘US proposal on Lebanon-Israel disputed waters unacceptable’

BEIRUT: Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri said on Friday that US proposals regarding the disputed Lebanon-Israel maritime border were "unacceptable", state news agency NNA said.

He made the comment to acting Assistant US Secretary of State David Satterfield, who on Friday met Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in addition to Berri.

The US diplomat has been mediating between Lebanon and Israel over tensions including an Israeli border wall and Lebanon’s decision to begin exploring for offshore energy near a disputed patch of water, officials said. "What is proposed is unacceptable," Lebanon’s NNA cited Berri as saying.

It is unclear exactly what the US has proposed to Lebanon regarding the disputed waters. A source in Berri’s camp said Satterfield came with "a new plan after the American side became convinced" that Lebanon would not accept the Hof line.

It is unclear exactly what the new US suggestion to Lebanon regarding the disputed waters involves. Berri insisted during the meeting with Satterfield that the maritime border should be drawn up through a tripartite committee that stemmed from a 1996 ceasefire, NNA said.

He said he wanted to see a similar process as produced the UN-demarcated Blue Line border between the two countries, which marks Israel’s military withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. A consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek last week signed exploration and production agreements for two offshore blocks in Lebanon’s first offshore oil and gas licensing round. One of the blocks, Block 9, contains waters disputed by Israel.