Tripartite committee to tackle border tensions amid no US role
The latest border tensions between Lebanon and Israel will be addressed by the Tripartite committee that comprises representatives of the Lebanese and Israeli armies and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), a media report said on Friday.
“Military confrontation has been ruled out, until the moment, as long as communication channels remain open through the U.N. to end the problem of the border violations,” Asharq al-Awsat newspaper said.
“No indications of a U.S. interference or mediation in the dispute over the land border have appeared and the limited U.S. efforts have not exceeded urging commitment to the applicable tracks, including through UNIFIL, to address any tensions resulting from the latest crisis,” the daily added.
The U.S. has called for “consolidating stability and preventing any provocations on the two sides of the border,” the newspaper noted.
Speculation in Lebanon had surged following a visit to Tel Aviv by U.S. energy adviser Amos Hochstein. But Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab denied his knowledge of any U.S. mediation in the land border file, stressing to Asharq al-Awsat that “neither the Americans have proposed mediating nor Lebanon has requested any U.S. effort in this file.”
Lebanese sources meanwhile denied that former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim is carrying out any negotiations with the U.S. side, noting that Ibrahim has not been tasked by any side with communicating with the Americans in this file.
Al-Akhbar newspaper meanwhile quoted diplomatic sources as saying that “the Americans have informed Lebanese officials that the U.S. administration is preoccupied with other files and does not see in the situation dangerousness that requires rapid action.”
“The Israeli government has not also requested a mediation to resolve the issue of the land border with Lebanon,” the daily added.
Hochstein’s talks in Israel “are not related to this file,” al-Akhbar quoted an official source as saying.
“The latter visited Tel Aviv days ago as part of a mission related to the U.S. efforts for finalizing a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and he has been tasked with this mission alongside his work in the energy sector. He is also interested in contacts aimed at pacifying things between Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” the source added.
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