MEDIA NOTE
APRIL 12, 2021
Under Secretary for Political Affairs David Hale will travel to Beirut April 13-15 for meetings with a full range of leaders. He will underscore America’s concerns with the worsening socio-economic conditions throughout the country and the political impasse that is contributing to the deteriorating situation. Under Secretary Hale will press Lebanese officials and party leaders to come together and form a government capable of and committed to implementing economic and governance reforms so that the Lebanese people can realize their full potential.
Lebanon and Israel resumed negotiations on their disputed maritime border today.
The indirect talks began in the morning and lasted five hours, the deliberations mediated by the United Nations and the United States. Lebanese officials brought the US delegation to the southern city of Naqoura, where the talks took place near UN and Lebanese army-controlled areas, the Lebanese state’s official National News Agency reported.
The two states have a disputed sea border in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The border demarcation is important due to the presence of gas in the waters. Israel already pumps gas from its fields in the sea, but Lebanon has yet to extract any. Lebanon and Israel are technically in a state of war and lack formal relations. Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah clash from time to time on the border. The National News Agency referred to Israel as the “Israeli enemy” in its report.
Senior Fellow, Director of Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs
Last Thursday, after several weeks of planning and preparation, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas officially announced that several election rounds scheduled for this summer would be postponed indefinitely. The elections, the first in 15 years, were to be held in three rounds, starting with PA legislative elections on May 22, followed by presidential elections on July 31, and culminating in elections for the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) long dormant parliament in exile, the Palestine National Council, on Aug. 31. Despite general skepticism by the public and a highly problematic electoral environment, including draconian restrictions on who could run and the arrest and harassment of candidates by Israel, there was genuine enthusiasm at the prospect of reviving Palestinian politics after years of political stagnation and institutional decline. A total of 36 electoral lists m
The resumption of talks, which stalled in November, could unlock significant economic benefits for debt-ridden Lebanon. Lebanon s parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) meets with US envoy David Schenker (C) and US Ambassador to Algeria John Desrocher (L) in Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 15, 2020. - -/AFP via Getty Images
April 30, 2021
The United States will send a delegation next week to mediate resumed maritime border talks between Israel and Lebanon aimed at resolving a dispute over potentially lucrative oil and gas resources in the eastern Mediterranean.
A US mediating team led by Ambassador John P. Desrocher will travel to Lebanon on Monday, according to a statement from the State Department. The talks between representatives from the Lebanese and Israeli governments are due to resume on Tuesday.
Israel and Lebanon to resume maritime border talks - report
Lebanon s President Michel Aoun has reportedly agreed to allow negotiations to resume over the disputed water, with US mediation.
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon over their disputed maritime border will resume next week, Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar reports. According to the report, US representatives including US Ambassador in Lebanon Dorothy Shea have told Lebanon s President Michel Aoun that Israel agrees to return to the talks next Tuesday. Aoun is scheduled to meet with the senior military figures who were conducting the talks, which were broken off last fall because of opposition from Hezbollah.