Lebanon Downplays Reports of Israeli Rejection of its Proposals

A fisherman dangles his line to catch fish, in Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
A fisherman dangles his line to catch fish, in Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
TT
20

Lebanon Downplays Reports of Israeli Rejection of its Proposals

A fisherman dangles his line to catch fish, in Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
A fisherman dangles his line to catch fish, in Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, October 6, 2022. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

Lebanese officials downplayed the importance of reports that pointed to Israel’s rejection of Lebanon’s remarks on the draft agreement pertaining to the demarcation of the maritime borders. Lebanese officials said on Friday that they were waiting for US envoy Amos Hochstein to inform them of the Israeli position.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanon would not take media leaks into consideration, but would wait for the official position that would be conveyed by the American envoy.

“The Lebanese remarks are simple, and they were discussed with the US envoy before they were officially sent,” Berri underlined.

What is happening now is “internal Israeli electoral bickering that does not concern us,” the Lebanese parliament speaker emphasized, noting that his country was waiting for an official response from Hochstein to proceed accordingly.

Information announced by Israel on Thursday about its rejection of the Lebanese comments on the border demarcation agreement sparked confusion amid Lebanese political circles.

Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, who is assigned by President Michel Aoun to follow up on the negotiations issue, said that Lebanon was “in contact with Hochstein, who is mediating the maritime border agreement with Israel to resolve the outstanding points as the negotiations reach a (decisive) point.”

Bou Saab told Reuters on Thursday that he would only respond to official statements and not to media reports on Israel’s stance.

He said the deal “is 90 percent done, but the remaining 10 percent could make it or break it,” adding that he was in constant contact with the US mediator.

Lebanese ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanon has not yet received any official response.

In this context, Aoun met on Thursday at the Baabda Palace with the Defense Minister in the caretaker government, Maurice Slim.

In remarks during the meeting, the president stressed that the remarks made to the draft agreement guarantee Lebanon’s rights.

A statement issued by the Lebanese Presidency said that discussions tackled the latest information on the ongoing negotiations to demarcate the maritime borders, in light of the observations made by the Lebanese side on the proposal submitted by Hochstein.

It added that the observations “guarantee Lebanon’s rights to explore oil and gas in the specified oil fields in the exclusive economic zone… and prevent any interpretations that do not apply to the framework set by Lebanon for the demarcation process.”

On Tuesday, Lebanon handed the US mediator its response to the proposal, amid prevailing optimism that the agreement could be signed within a few days.



Hundreds of Thousands Flee as Israel Seizes Rafah in New Gaza 'Security Zone'

A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
TT
20

Hundreds of Thousands Flee as Israel Seizes Rafah in New Gaza 'Security Zone'

A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Hundreds of thousands of fleeing Gazans sought shelter on Thursday in one of the biggest mass displacements of the war, as Israeli forces advanced into the ruins of the city of Rafah, part of a newly announced "security zone" they intend to seize.

A day after declaring their intention to capture large swathes of the crowded enclave, Israeli force pushed into the city on Gaza's southern edge which had served as a last refuge for people fleeing other areas for much of the war, reported Reuters.

Gaza's health ministry reported at least 97 people killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, including at least 20 killed in an airstrike around dawn in Shejaia suburb of Gaza City.

Rafah "is gone, it is being wiped out," a father of seven among the hundreds of thousands who had fled from Rafah to neighboring Khan Younis, told Reuters via a chat app.

"They are knocking down what is left standing of houses and property," said the man who declined to be identified for fear of repercussions.

After a strike killed several people in Khan Younis, Adel Abu Fakher was checking the damage to his tent.

"Is anything left for us? There’s nothing left for us. We’re being killed while asleep," he said.

The assault to capture Rafah is a major escalation in the war, which Israel restarted last month after effectively abandoning a ceasefire in place since January.

GAZANS FEAR PERMANENT DEPOPULATION

Israel has not spelled out its longterm aims for the security zone its troops are now seizing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu said troops were taking an area he called the "Morag Axis", a reference to an abandoned former Israeli settlement once located between Rafah on Gaza's southern edge and the adjacent main southern city Khan Younis.

Gazans who had returned to homes in the ruins during the ceasefire have now been ordered to flee communities on the northern and southern edges of the strip.

They fear that Israel's intention is to depopulate those areas indefinitely, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people permanently homeless in one of the poorest and most crowded territories on earth. The security zone includes some of Gaza's last agricultural land and critical water infrastructure.

Since the first phase of the ceasefire expired at the start of March with no agreement to prolong it, Israel has imposed a total blockade on all goods reaching Gaza's 2.3 million residents, recreating what international organizations describe as a humanitarian catastrophe after weeks of relative calm.

Israel's stated goal since the start of the war has been the destruction of the Hamas group which ran Gaza for nearly two decades and led the attack on Israeli communities in October 2023 that precipitated the war.

But with no effort made to establish an alternative administration, Hamas-led police returned to the streets during the ceasefire. Fighters still hold 59 dead and living hostages which Israel says must be handed over to extend the truce; Hamas says it will free them only under a deal that ends the war.

Israeli leaders say they have been encouraged by signs of protest in Gaza against Hamas, with hundreds of people demonstrating in north Gaza's Beit Lahiya on Wednesday opposing the war and demanding Hamas quit power. Hamas calls the protesters collaborators and says Israel is behind them.

The war began with a Hamas attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023 with gunmen killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies. Israel's campaign has so far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say.

Rafah residents said most of the local population had followed Israel's order to leave, as Israeli strikes toppled buildings there. But a strike on the main road between Khan Younis and Rafah stopped most movement between the two cities.

Movement of people and traffic along the western coastal road near Morag was also limited by bombardment, said residents.

"Others stayed because they don't know where to go, or got fed up of being displaced several times. We are afraid they might be killed or at best detained," said Basem, a resident of Rafah who declined to give a second name.

Markets have emptied and prices for basic necessities have soared under Israel's total blockade of food, medicine and fuel.

The Palestinian Health Ministry, which is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but has nominal authority over hospitals in Gaza, said Gaza's entire healthcare system was at risk of collapse.