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Israeli, Lebanese delegations meet for maritime border talks

Israel and Lebanon sent technical delegations for the talks today on establishing their maritime border.
A picture taken on October 14, 2020 shows UNIFIL and Lebanese military vehicles guarding the area near the UNIFIL base (not seen in picture) where Israeli and Lebanese delegtaions were having their first round of talks on the demarcation of the maritime frontier between the two countries, which are technically in a state of war, in the southern Lebanese border town of Naqura on October 14, 2020. - Lebanon and Israel, still technically at war, began unprecedented talks sponsored by the United Nations and the

Israel and Lebanon kept a low profile today while launching talks on demarking the bilateral maritime border. The talks' sponsors the United States and United Nations said in a joined statement on this morning's meeting, “During this initial meeting, the representatives held productive talks and reaffirmed their commitment to continue negotiations later this month.” A second meeting is scheduled for Oct. 28.

The meeting took place in a tent at the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in the southern Lebanon town of Naqoura, near the border with Israel. The two countries are technically at a state of war. Still, Israeli officials downplayed the importance of these rare negotiations this week, stressing they should by no means be taken as the beginning of a normalization process similar to that which took place with the United Arab Emirates or Bahrain.

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