Demarcation of the border between Lebanon and Israel..a new opportunity for peace

Dina Mahmoud (Beirut, London)

Lebanese President Michel Aoun confirmed that negotiations to demarcate the southern maritime border between his country and Israel are in their final stages.
Aoun said during his meeting yesterday with the United Nations Special Coordinator in Lebanon Joanna Vronesca, that “communication with the American mediator Amos Hochstein is continuing about some technical details related to the demarcation process.”
This comes as analysts and experts stressed that reaching an agreement in this regard will reflect positively on the situation in the entire region, in addition to the much-needed economic benefits that it will entail in Lebanon.
The agreement, which is expected to be crystallized with American mediation, will set a precedent on the regional scene, especially in light of the fact that it is in the interest of many parties inside and outside Lebanon, in light of the energy crisis that the world is witnessing at the present time, as a result of the consequences of the continuation of the Ukrainian crisis, more than 6 months ago. .
Also, reaching that agreement would mean providing an opportunity to contain another hotbed of tension in the Middle East, by defusing the danger of one of the fault lines extending in it, which is the one between Lebanon and Israel, which previously led to the outbreak of many military confrontations, which The last erupted in the summer of 2006.
The experts considered, in statements published by the American “Christian Science Monitor” website, that the frequency of indications that the Lebanese-Israeli disputes over the border demarcation file can be settled, allowing the two sides to benefit from the natural gas reserves located under the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, stems in part from The transformations that occurred on the internal Lebanese scene, during the past few years.
In the midst of the economic and financial crisis that has struck Lebanon since late 2019, a new generation of young people has emerged, who are paying attention to ways to develop the country economically and remove it from its prolonged stumble, instead of continuing to adopt hostile trends, instigated by terrorist organizations, foremost of which is the Hezbollah militia. ».
This young generation had previously formed the spearhead of the unprecedented uprising that Lebanon witnessed three years ago, in refusal to hijack Hezbollah’s political and military decision, and to demand the dismantling of the ruling class, which is dominated by corruption and nepotism.