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
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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.



Israel Cuts off Gaza’s Southern City of Rafah, Vows to ‘Vigorously’ Expand in the Territory

 Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
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Israel Cuts off Gaza’s Southern City of Rafah, Vows to ‘Vigorously’ Expand in the Territory

 Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)
Displaced Palestinians flee from east to west of Gaza City after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area, Friday April 11, 2025. (AP)

Israel announced Saturday it has completed construction of a new security corridor that cuts off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, as the military said it would soon expand "vigorously" in most of the small coastal territory. Palestinians were further squeezed into shrinking areas of land.

"Soon, (military) activity will expand rapidly to additional locations throughout most of Gaza and you will have to evacuate the fighting zones," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, without saying where Palestinians were meant to go.

The statement urged Palestinians to stand up and remove Hamas and release the remaining hostages, saying: "This is the only way to stop the war." There was no immediate Hamas response.

Israeli troops were deployed last week to the new security corridor referred to as Morag, the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, after the army ordered sweeping evacuations covering most of Rafah, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation.

Israel has vowed to seize large parts of Gaza to pressure Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages, 24 of them believed to be alive, and accept proposed new ceasefire terms.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has also imposed a monthlong blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left the territory’s roughly 2 million Palestinians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle — a tactic that rights groups say is a war crime.

Israel has claimed that enough supplies entered Gaza during the two-month ceasefire that it shattered last month. Aid groups have disputed that.

Netanyahu has said Morag would be "a second Philadelphi corridor," referring to the Gaza side of the border with Egypt farther south, which has been under Israeli control since May 2024. Israel has also reasserted control of the Netzarim corridor, which cuts off Gaza's northern third from the rest of the territory.

The corridors, coupled with a buffer zone that Israel has razed and expanded, give it more than 50% control of the territory.

Katz said Palestinians interested in "voluntarily" relocating to other countries would be able to as part of a proposal by US President Donald Trump. Palestinians have rejected the proposal and expressed their determination to remain in their homeland.

Trump and Israeli officials have not said how they would respond if Palestinians refuse to leave Gaza. But Human Rights Watch and other groups say the plan would amount to "ethnic cleansing" — the forcible relocation of the civilian population of an ethnic group from a geographic area.

Many Palestinians have been crowding into squalid tent camps or the rubble of their previous homes, often displacing multiple times in response to Israel's evacuation orders since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killed some 1,200 people, many of them civilians, and sparked the war.

Israel on Saturday ordered the evacuation of areas east of Khan Younis ahead of an attack. Military spokesperson Avichay Adraee added that fighters had fired rockets into Israel from these areas.

Israeli strikes across Gaza continued, killing at least 21 people in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants but says most of the over 50,000 Palestinians killed in the war have been women and children.

The ministry said at least 1,500 people have been killed since Israel's surprise bombardment resumed the war last month.

Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters in the war, without providing evidence.