US State Department Adviser To Visit Israel On Sept 8, Talk Over Lebanon Border - Reports

US State Department Adviser Amos Hochstein, who serves as a mediator in negotiations between Israel and Lebanon over their maritime border, is coming to Israel on Thursday evening to meet with officials, Israeli news outlet Walla reported on Thursday

TEL AVIV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2022) US State Department Adviser Amos Hochstein, who serves as a mediator in negotiations between Israel and Lebanon over their maritime border, is coming to Israel on Thursday evening to meet with officials, Israeli news outlet Walla reported on Thursday.

Hochstein reportedly arrives in Israel to continue talks with Lebanon over the demarcation of the maritime border. He is scheduled to meet with head of the Israeli Security Council Eyal Hulata and Director General of the country's Foreign Ministry Yuval Rotem.

On Monday, a Lebanese source told Sputnik that Israel was yet to give an answer on Lebanon's proposals on the demarcation of the maritime border, an area, which has rich deposits of oil and gas. Negotiations may take up to a month.

A well-informed Lebanese diplomatic source told Sputnik that the US ambassador has a vision of a dispute resolution, but he does not want Lebanon to reach the final agreement before the election in Israel, which takes place on November 1.

In June, the Lebanese authorities conveyed their position on the delineation of maritime borders with Israel to Hochstein. Israel called on Lebanon to accelerate the negotiations and called the disputed Karish gas field its strategic asset, assuring that it had no intention to extract gas in the disputed territory.

The US-mediated negotiations began in 2020. Lebanon initially laid claims to 860 square kilometers (332 square miles) of waters but then modified the bid to include an extra 1,430 square kilometers alongside a part of the Karish gas field, claimed in its entirety by Israel. Israel then refused to discuss those new terms.