US 'highly prioritizes' Israeli-Lebanese maritime border dispute

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The Biden administration regards as a "key priority" that Beirut and "Tel Aviv" come to an agreement regarding their dispute over the Lebanese-Israeli maritime borders, a White House official said on Wednesday.

US mediator in the file of the maritime border dispute Amos Hochstein is set to go to Beirut and occupied Al-Quds next week, Israeli officials have said, to continue the efforts aimed at bridging the gap between the two and striking a deal that would help prevent an escalation.

President Biden raised the maritime border dispute during a call with Israeli occupation Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday and said Hochstein would arrive in the region in the coming days, an Israeli official said.

Hochstein landed in Paris earlier in the week for talks with French officials about the issue between Beirut and "Tel Aviv".

Officials within the Israeli occupation said the US mediator was expected to meet with Total executives, the French energy conglomerate, as the corporation will have a stake in any future agreement struck about the maritime borders.

Though Hochstein has held calls with several Lebanese and Israeli officials, the latter said the process of drafting an agreement is yet to start.

"We continue to narrow the gaps between the parties and believe a lasting compromise is possible," a White House official said, noting that Hochstein is holding talks on a daily basis with Lebanese and Israeli officials.

The Israeli Channel 14 website reported, earlier, that the ongoing indirect negotiations between Lebanon and the Israeli occupation regarding the demarcation of the maritime borders indicate the possibility of reaching a "permanent settlement," although "several parties in Israel believe that there will be painful concessions, particularly regarding details in the agreement." 

The Israeli occupation had given in July the United States an updated proposal regarding "Tel Aviv's" maritime borders with Lebanon, Israeli newspaper Walla! said on Wednesday.

Israeli media quoted last week a senior Israeli official in the gas sector as saying that the maritime border demarcation agreement that is taking shape with Lebanon is a complete surrender by "Israel", noting that "Israel's" submission is a great victory for Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Hochstein last visited the region in early August, meeting with Lebanese officials in Beirut and then heading down to occupied Palestine for meeting with their Israeli counterparts.