“Wednesday’s talks come as Lebanon is going through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades, compounded by a massive deadly blast at Beirut’s port in August. Lebanon is hoping that oil and natural gas discoveries in its territorial waters will help it pay back its enormous debt,” Raphael Ahren writes for the Times of Israel.
“Behind the scenes, the United States hopes that a successful agreement over the maritime border [could] open the door to additional future contacts, against the backdrop of an U.S.-Israeli campaign to weaken the power of Hezbollah in the political arena,” Noa Landau and Jack Khoury write for Haaretz. |