Trump's Middle East Peace Campaign Keeps Rolling with Talks Between Israel and Historic Rival
Israel will hold rare talks with Lebanon next month in an effort to resolve a longstanding maritime border dispute, an Israeli official said Saturday.
The official said Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz will lead the Israeli delegation in talks mediated by the United States. Representatives from the three countries are likely to speak via video conference, the official said.
The official requested anonymity. There was no immediate comment from Lebanon.
Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic relations and are technically in a state of war.
They each claim about 330 square miles of the Mediterranean Sea as within their own exclusive economic zones.
Both are hoping to explore and develop new gas fields in the Mediterranean following a number of big finds in recent years.
American diplomats have been shuttling between the two countries and pushing for direct talks in recent years.
Lebanon, which is mired in a severe economic crisis, is especially keen to develop offshore energy resources.
The announcement follows recent agreements brokered by the Trump administration in which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations.
Israel invaded Lebanon during the country’s 1975-1990 civil war to battle Palestinian militants who had launched cross-border attacks, and it occupied a strip of territory in southern Lebanon until 2000.
In 2006, Israel fought a month-long war with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.
Hezbollah has vastly expanded its arsenal of rockets and missiles since then, and today Israel views it as its most immediate military threat.
Neither side is believed to be seeking war, but they have traded fire on a number of occasions in recent years.
Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S. and other countries, is part of a political alliance that dominates Lebanon’s parliament and government.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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