Raad says Lebanese awaiting outcome of Hochstein visit with 'great caution'

Head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad on Friday said that the Lebanese are awaiting the outcome of U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein’s visit to Lebanon with “great caution.”

“It is the right of the Lebanese to be able with the least cost, shortest time and easiest ways to exploit their natural gas resources and to extract them without obstacles or a conflict,” Raad said.

Tensions had recently surged between Israel and Lebanon after a gas production vessel arrived in the Karish field near an offshore line previously claimed by Lebanon, which prompted Hezbollah and Israel to exchange threats over the border dispute.

Lebanon later invited Hochstein to return quickly to Beirut and the U.S. mediator held talks in Beirut on Monday and Tuesday after which he signaled that the talks were positive.

The envoy said that the suggestions put forward by Lebanon during the meetings "will enable the negotiations to go forward."

The Lebanese government took "a very strong step forward" by presenting a more united approach, Hochstein told Alhurra TV. He, however, refused to give details about the Lebanese suggestions, saying "it's about looking at what kind of a compromise can be reached that the Israelis can agree to and not feel that it is being pushed into something against their interest while still preserving the most important part of Lebanon's interest."