Posted on 10/13/2020 3:43:43 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Lebanon and Israel, formally still at war after decades of conflict, launch talks on Wednesday to address a long-running dispute over their maritime border running through potentially gas-rich Mediterranean waters.
The U.S.-mediated talks follow three years of intense diplomacy by Washington and were announced less than a month after the United States stepped up pressure on political allies of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
They also come after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain agreed to establish full relations with Israel, under U.S.-brokered deals which realign some of Washington’s closest Middle East allies against Iran.
Hezbollah, which fought a five-week conflict with Israel in 2006, says the talks are not a sign of peace-making with its long-time enemy. Israel’s energy minister also said expectations for Wednesday’s meeting should be realistic.
“We are not talking about negotiations for peace and normalization, rather an attempt to solve a technical, economic dispute that for 10 years has delayed the development of offshore natural resources,” minister Yuval Steinitz tweeted.
Nevertheless, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has described the decision to go ahead with the talks as historic, and said Washington looked forward to separate talks later over disagreements on the two countries’ land border.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
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Biden will have to put an end to this. The world doesn't need carbon energy after all.
Any agreement with Lebanon would have to wait until Joe’s positioned to win the Nobel Piece Prize for Bowling. That’s just a stepping to the Senate.
The Hizzies' Beirut explosion sobered up everyone, apart from Iran's proxy occupation thugs.
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