US-mediated Lebanon-Israel talks on border at sea to resume

The U.S. mediating team says indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel over their disputed maritime border are to resume next week

BEIRUT -- Months after they stalled, indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel over their disputed maritime border are to resume next week, a U.S.-mediating team said. Resolving the border issue could pave the way for lucrative oil and gas deals on both sides. The negotiations first began last in October and stopped a few weeks later. They were the first non-security talks between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations and are technically in a state of war. Israel and Lebanon each claim about 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea. But in the second round of talks, the Lebanese delegation — a mix of army officers and experts — offered a new map that pushes for an additional 1,430 square kilometers (550 square miles) for Lebanon.