Islam Times - Lebanon Indirect Demarcation Talks with ‘Israel’ Postponed until October 28

Islam Times - The next round of indirect Lebanon-‘Israel’ maritime demarcation talks was set for October 28.

Delegations from Beirut and the ‘Israeli’ apartheid occupation entity took part in an opening round of indirect negotiations on the demarcation of Lebanon’s southern maritime border with the occupying entity, and postponed the next meeting two weeks.

“We are here to discuss and negotiate the demarcation of our maritime borders based on the international law, the 1949 ceasefire agreement documented by the United Nations,” the Lebanese Army Command published in a statement after the first round of talks ended.

“We look forward to other parties’ doing their commitments,” the statement read, adding that “the final demarcation process would happen after the specialized Lebanese authorities ratify it.”

They sat down for negotiations at the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force in the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura on Wednesday.

Hosted by the UN and mediated by the US, the meeting broke up after barely an hour, and the two sides agreed to hold the next round of discussions on October 28.

The four-member Lebanese team is headed by Deputy Chief of Staff of the Lebanese Army for Operations Brigadier General Pilot Bassam Yassin, while the six-member Zionist delegation is led by the director general of the regime’s energy ministry.

The talks mark a “first step in the thousand-mile march towards the demarcation” of Lebanon’s maritime frontier, General Yassin said. “Based on the higher interests of our country, we are looking to achieve a pace of negotiations that would allow us to conclude this dossier within reasonable time.”

The Lebanese delegation in the maritime border demarcation talks refused to take official photos with the ‘Israeli’ delegation.

Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah and Amal Movement expressed their opposition to the makeup of their country’s delegation.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri had previously announced a framework agreement for negotiations with ‘Israel’ on demarcating the maritime and land borders, saying the demarcation will help Lebanon economically.

Hezbollah and Amal released a joint statement, calling for an immediate reform of the delegation based on Berri’s framework pertaining to the border demarcation to the April 1996 ceasefire understanding with the Zionist entity and UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

They said the inclusion of civilian figures in the Lebanese team contradicts the framework agreement, which only allows military officers to attend the periodic meetings on border demarcation.