Hoff in Fleeting Visit to Lebanon, U.N. Awaiting Israel’s Position on Demarcating Maritime Border

U.S. Special Middle East Peace Envoy's assistant, Frederick Hoff, paid a quick visit to Beirut on Thursday during which he met with a delegation from the army command to discuss matters related to the Lebanese-Israeli maritime border and the security situation in southern Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar Friday.

The military delegation informed him that Lebanon is entitled to demarcate its maritime border, and therefore it has no intention to relinquish this right, said As Safir on Friday.

Hoff also inquired about Lebanon’s plans to drill for petroleum in the offshore oil fields discovered in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as demarcating Lebanon’s land borders.

He asked detailed questions about Lebanon’s army command and Foreign Ministry study on the matter, which they had sent to the United Nations.

The U.S. official concluded his visit after a few hours without meeting any political officials.

Meanwhile, As Safir added that Lebanon had achieved great progress in demarcating the maritime border, allowing it to eventually start drilling for oil and halt Israel’s violations of its territorial waters.

It noted that specialized sides at the U.N. had praised Lebanon’s study on the issue, which suggested starting the border from al-Naqoura in the South and ending at the point where Lebanon, Cyprus, and Israel’s maritime borders meet.

Furthermore, As Safir added that Lebanese officer Abdul Rahman Shaitly’s insistence on tackling this issue during the recent tripartite meeting between Lebanon, Israel, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon earlier this week helped move this file forward.

It explained that the Israeli delegation was receptive of the issue after the Jewish state had initially rejected demarcating the maritime border, but it finally acquiesced to present its own study to the U.N. on this matter.