Lebanon to send remarks on US draft on maritime border with Israel

Lebanese President Michel Aoun meets with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, at the presidential palace in Baabda Lebanon October 3, 2022. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 03 October 2022
Follow

Lebanon to send remarks on US draft on maritime border with Israel

  • Draft appears to float an arrangement whereby gas would be produced by a company under a Lebanese license in the disputed Qana prospect
  • Israel would receive a share of revenues

BEIRUT: Lebanon will send its comments on a US proposal to delineate its maritime border with longtime foe Israel to the American official mediating talks by Tuesday, a top Lebanese official said on Monday.
US envoy Amos Hochstein has shuttled between Lebanon and Israel since 2020 to seal a deal that would pave the way for offshore energy exploration and defuse a potential source of conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
Hochstein sent a written draft proposal to Beirut last week. It was discussed on Monday by President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
The three would pull together their concerns on the draft to send to Hochstein within 24 hours and would not respond officially to the proposals until their queries were addressed, said Elias Bou Saab, Berri’s deputy and the main pointperson for the file in Lebanon.
“The devils are in the details, but the devils are now small,” said Bou Saab, speaking to journalists after the top officials met.
The 10-page draft appears to float an arrangement whereby gas would be produced by a company under a Lebanese license in the disputed Qana prospect, with Israel receiving a share of revenues.
Few other details have been made public, but Bou Saab said on Monday that the arrangement secures all of Lebanon’s rights in relation to Qana and Mikati said that the draft included “all essential matters.”
Bou Saab said he expected a response by Hochstein by the end of the week, and said only then could Lebanon prepare an official response.
Israel has said its own legal experts are also reviewing the draft before it can be approved.
Israeli media reported that the cabinet will meet on Thursday to approve the deal, but no session is formally scheduled.
A senior Israeli official told Reuters that it was not yet clear when the government would take that step, as it awaited word of Lebanon’s response.
“If they come back with changes — other than small, technical things — it may not be done by Thursday,” the official said.
A top Lebanese source briefed on the negotiations said that if an agreement is reached, it would come into force via a ceremony in the southern Lebanese border town of Naqoura.
The mechanisms are not clear, but Aoun said there would be “no partnership” with the Israeli said.
While the company carrying out the exploration in Qana has been officially named, Lebanese officials have publicly suggested a role for TotalEnergies SE and a top Israeli official was meeting company representatives in Paris on Monday, according to a source briefed on the matter.
Israel’s energy ministry confirmed that its director-general Lior Schillat, who also heads Israel’s negotiating team, was in Paris for discussions on Monday.
TotalEnergies declined to comment. 


Palestinian official says Hamas leader’s speech ‘offends’ Egypt, Jordan

Updated 9 sec ago
Follow

Palestinian official says Hamas leader’s speech ‘offends’ Egypt, Jordan

  • Rawhi Fattuh said Hamas leadership should recognize the Egyptian and Jordanian roles in supporting Palestinians in Gaza and rejecting Israeli displacement plans
  • He added that Khalil Al-Hayya’s speech demonstrates ‘the political confusion that Hamas is experiencing’

LONDON: Rawhi Fattuh, the chairman of the Palestinian National Council, criticized the speech by Hamas’ top leader in exile, Khalil Al-Hayya, as reflecting the internal crisis and political confusion faced by the armed group.

Fattuh said that Al-Hayya’s claims during a televised speech on Sunday against Egypt and Jordan are an attempt to export the group’s internal crisis to regional countries.

“The attacks on Egypt and Jordan demonstrate the political confusion that Hamas is experiencing,” he said, according to Wafa news agency.

He added that the speech reflects a desperate attempt to shift blame away from Hamas’ “failed policies and uncalculated adventures” that have worsened the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Hayya questioned Egypt’s role in stopping the mass starvation caused by the Israeli regime in Gaza, stating: “Are your brothers in Gaza dying of hunger while they are at your border, so close to you?”

Al-Hayya also urged Jordanians to continue their “popular uprising” to stop the Israeli atrocities in Gaza. This prompted a response from Amman stating that “the Jordanian people act independently and are not influenced by external directives or Palestinian factions.”

Fattuh said on Tuesday that Egypt and Jordan have been steadfast in their support for Palestinians in Gaza and against the Israeli displacement plans.

“It would have been more important under Hamas leadership to recognize this honorable role and appreciate the sacrifices, rather than to offend them with hostile statements that do not reflect the Palestinian national interest,” he said.

He held Hamas responsible for leaving almost 2 million Palestinians in Gaza as victims of Israeli atrocities, the monopoly of merchants, and deteriorating living conditions.

“These statements benefit the (Israeli) occupation,” he said, asserting that Palestinians refuse to engage in “imaginary battles” and stand with their Arab brethren.

Neither Hamas nor Islamic Jihad is part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and both groups have long rejected calls to join what Palestinians consider their sole political representative since the 1960s.

The armed group has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 following clashes with the Palestinian Authority forces, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 700 Palestinians, according to an official tally.

Since then, it has engaged in several conflicts with Israel, the most recent being the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which resulted in the deaths and abduction of several hundred people and prompted an ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 60,000 Palestinians.


Jordanian government says humanitarian airdrops ‘not substitute’ for ground convoys in Gaza

Updated 29 July 2025
Follow

Jordanian government says humanitarian airdrops ‘not substitute’ for ground convoys in Gaza

  • Minister of government communication rejects claims suggesting Jordan’s aid efforts are ‘solely political or outside the humanitarian scope’
  • He emphasizes that current aid is inadequate to address the needs of Gaza residents 

LONDON: The Jordanian government emphasized its commitment to providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, ensuring that relief efforts remain free from political interference.

Mohammed Momani, the minister of government communication, rejected claims suggesting that Jordan’s aid efforts were “solely political or outside the humanitarian scope.” He said Jordan aims for a ceasefire in Gaza and to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid.

Momani added that Jordan’s humanitarian airdrops across Gaza are not a replacement for ground convoys, which carry the largest quantities of aid. Jordan has carried out three airdrops of food and essentials since Sunday to assist Palestinians who are facing starvation due to the actions of the Israeli regime.

He emphasized that the aid currently being provided is inadequate to address the needs of residents of the Palestinian coastal enclave.

Jordan has sent six relief convoys recently, with the latest consisting of 60 aid trucks. Despite obstacles imposed by the Israeli government, Jordan is committed to continuing its aid delivery and stands in solidarity with the Palestinians, Momani added.

He also reaffirmed Jordan’s condemnation of the Israeli plan to annex the West Bank and Jordan Valley following the passage of a bill in the Knesset last week.


Legal cannabis blooms in Morocco but black market still beckons

Updated 29 July 2025
Follow

Legal cannabis blooms in Morocco but black market still beckons

  • Regulating cannabis farming brought with it hopes for fresh revenue and economic revitalization in the impoverished Rif region
  • The step made Morocco a forerunner among major producing countries and the first in the MENA to join a global trend

BAB BERRED, Morocco: Beneath the blazing summer sun, Abderrahman Talbi surveyed the neat rows of flourishing cannabis blooms in compact fields, reflecting on how his life has changed since he joined Morocco’s burgeoning legal cannabis industry two years ago.

Like many farmers in the northern Rif mountains who have long grown the crop illegally, Talbi is relieved that raids and seizures by the authorities are no longer a worry.

“I can now say I am a cannabis farmer without fear,” Talbi told Reuters. “Peace of mind has no price.”

Talbi’s pivot to legal farming is an example of what Morocco, one of the world’s biggest cannabis producers, hoped to achieve when it legalized cultivation for medical and industrial use, but not for recreational purposes, in 2022.

Regulating cannabis farming brought with it hopes for fresh revenue and economic revitalization in the impoverished Rif region.

The step made Morocco a forerunner among major producing countries and the first in the Middle East and North Africa to join a global trend that has seen countries like Canada, Germany and Uruguay legalize production and use.

It also hoped to lure farmers away from the illegal economy in the restive Rif mountains, where cannabis production has long been tolerated to facilitate social peace.

Al Hoceima, a major city in Rif, saw the largest protests in Morocco in 2016-17 over economic and social conditions.

BLACK MARKET’S LURE PERSISTS

Legalization efforts have gained traction, with about 5,000 farmers joining the industry this year, from just 430 in 2023, says Morocco’s cannabis regulator, or ANRAC.

And legal production surged to nearly 4,200 tons last year, a 14-fold increase over the first harvest in 2023.

Still, the black market remains dominant and lucrative due to demand for recreational use from Europe and regionally in Africa, potentially undermining efforts to fully regulate the sector.

Morocco has 5,800 hectares (14,300 acres) of legally planted land, according to ANRAC. That’s dwarfed by illegal cultivation spanning over 27,100 hectares, Interior Ministry data shows.

While many farmers still choose illicit cultivation, they face the risk of increased crackdowns by authorities, which led to the seizure of 249 tons of cannabis resin by September last year, up 48 percent from all of 2023, according to the Interior Ministry.

Mohammed Azzouzi, 52, spent three years in hiding for cannabis-related charges before receiving a royal pardon along with over 4,800 others last year.

Now, he is preparing for his first legal harvest and hopes to earn more than the 10,000 dirhams ($1,100) he used to make in the illegal economy each year.

RED TAPE
The country’s prohibition on growing cannabis for leisure use, along with bureaucratic red tape, limit legal farming, with every stage of the supply chain requiring a specific license from ANRAC, discouraging many a farmer from making the switch.

A grower who wants to cultivate legally needs to join a licensed cooperative, which buys the farmer’s product and processes it into derivatives or sells the resin to other licensed manufacturers.

Talbi’s cooperative, Biocannat, near the town of Bab Berred, 300 km (186 miles) north of Rabat, bought about 200 tons of cannabis last year from some 200 farmers, processing it into resin, supplements, capsules, oils and powders for medical and cosmetic purposes.

About 60 km east of Biocannat, in the main producing area of Issaguen, farmer Mohamed El Mourabit was initially hopeful about the legalization plan in 2021, but is less so now.

“The process is too complicated,” he said.

And money talks, as well, for many farmers, who are lured by the higher rewards of the black market, despite its risks.

While cooperatives take months to pay farmers about 50 dirhams per kilogram for the raw plant, on the illicit market, processed cannabis resin can fetch up to 2,500 dirhams per kilogram, farmers and activists say.

To close that gap, legalization advocates say growing for recreational use should be allowed, too.

But it’s not clear whether that will happen soon.

Mohamed Guerrouj, head of ANRAC, said legalizing recreational use would only be considered within a medical framework.

“The goal is to develop Morocco’s pharmaceutical industry ... not coffee shops,” he said.


Hamas says delegation leaving Doha after Gaza ceasefire talks breakdown

Updated 29 July 2025
Follow

Hamas says delegation leaving Doha after Gaza ceasefire talks breakdown

  • A high-level leadership delegation from Hamas is departing Doha heading to Istanbul
  • Israel has resisted international calls to agree a ceasefire in Gaza

GAZA CITY: Hamas’s negotiating team left the Qatari capital Doha for Turkiye on Tuesday to discuss the “latest developments” in the stalled Gaza ceasefire talks, a Hamas official told AFP.

“A high-level leadership delegation from Hamas, headed by Mohammed Darwish, president of the movement’s leadership council, and including the negotiation team and its head, Khalil Al-Hayya, is departing Doha heading to Istanbul,” the source told AFP.

“The delegation will hold several meetings with Turkish officials regarding the latest developments in the ceasefire negotiations, which stalled last week,” the source added.

For over two weeks, mediators in Qatar had been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas delegations in a bid to secure a breakthrough in indirect talks for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza, nearly two years into the war.

The United States joined Israel last week in pulling its negotiators from the negotiations, with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff blaming the Palestinian militant group for the failure to reach a deal and saying Washington would “consider alternative options.”

Hamas politburo member Bassem Naim told AFP on Friday that the latest discussions focused on details of an Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Israel has resisted international calls to agree a ceasefire in Gaza, with UN-backed experts warning on Tuesday that the Palestinian territory was slipping into famine.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar called the ceasefire demands “a distorted campaign of international pressure against Israel” that would leave Hamas in power in Gaza.

“It ain’t gonna happen, no matter how much pressure is put on Israel,” he said at a press conference Tuesday.


Germany’s Merz says Gaza aid airdrops could start as soon as Wednesday

Updated 29 July 2025
Follow

Germany’s Merz says Gaza aid airdrops could start as soon as Wednesday

  • “This work may only make a small contribution to humanitarian aid,” said Merz
  • Two A400M aircraft were on their way to Jordan at the moment

BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that two of the country’s aircraft could fly aid airdrop missions from Jordan to Gaza as soon as Wednesday, calling the help a small but important signal.

“This work may only make a small contribution to humanitarian aid, but it sends an important signal: We are here, we are in the region,” said Merz at a press conference alongside Jordan’s King Abdullah in Berlin.

Two A400M aircraft were on their way to Jordan at the moment, where they would refuel and then fly their aid mission at the weekend at the latest, in coordination with France and Germany, said Merz.

Merz also welcomed initial steps taken by Israel to allow in aid but said more must follow.