If and when Lebanon and Israel do reach an agreement to demarcate their maritime border, the oil and gas riches that can then be peacefully extracted will benefit the countries economically. The deal will also reduce the chances of war, as long as the basic guarantees in the agreement stipulate that there won’t be tensions at the border or provocations from either side.
All this is assuming the two countries can get over the speed bump they hit last week, when Israel rejected amendments proposed by Lebanon. The US, which is involved in the negotiations, believes all the concerned parties remain committed to reaching a solution to the long-running dispute.
During the discussions so far, Hezbollah has been a silent party. This means that the Iranian-backed group has decided to dissociate itself from developments in Syria and Palestine, and refrain from using the Lebanese border and front to retaliate for the sake of the two entities. Has Hezbollah’s “transformation” taken place for pragmatic, financial and political reasons? Is this part of a behind-the-scenes deal between Iran and Israel/ US amid ongoing efforts to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action? Is this the result of gains-and-losses calculations made by Tehran and Hezbollah?
Whatever be the motivations, it is important to stop and take stock of the benefits of such a deal being finalised – last week's development notwithstanding.
Along with the demarcation talks, the Najib Mikati government's priorities have included holding the presidential election and reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout. I am given to believe that Beirut has reached the midpoint in this journey, with eventual demarcation paving the way for the IMF deal, as well as investments and renewed confidence from donor countries. The demarcation will provide a guarantee to donor countries that Lebanon will be on solid ground and that there will be no war.
Lebanon will enter a qualitatively new phase of relations with Israel
The US is involved in the negotiations as a guarantor of a deal, not just a broker. Amos Hochstein, senior adviser for energy security in the Biden administration, has been central to the optimism surrounding a deal, and he will do his utmost to complete it and safeguard it against possible manoeuvres from Israel, Lebanon or Hezbollah. It will be a crucially important achievement for both countries and Washington, which is in need for such a win.
There are verbal pledges that Israel will not provoke Hezbollah, because its interests are better served by extracting gas and not being implicated in a war that will prevent the exploitation of natural resources – as long as Hezbollah does not provoke it first. There are verbal pledges from Hezbollah, too, that it will not heat up the Lebanese front with Israel, on condition that Israel does not provoke it either. Hezbollah, not just Lebanon, also stands to benefit from the border demarcation and the oil and gas extraction.
Lebanon will enter a qualitatively new phase of relations with Israel. Iran and Hezbollah, in turn, are entering into an agreement with Israel, which is also a major shift, despite their denials and protestations. Indeed, pragmatism has required the Iranian regime to recalculate and reposition itself, in light of its domestic situation, the stalling of the nuclear negotiations, and the requirements of economic recovery in Iran, which means Iranian money is needed in Iran – and not to finance Hezbollah’s operations against Israel on the Lebanese front.
Meanwhile, the last thing the Syrian front needs right now is escalation, which will harm the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' regional operations on behalf of the Iranian regime. For this reason, Tehran has concluded that turning a blind eye to the Lebanon-Israel talks is useful, while not being compelled to engage directly and publicly with these agreements.
The uprising led by young Iranian women and men following the death of Mahsa Amini and dozens of others in recent weeks affects the regime’s overall calculus, although it isn't directly linked to Tehran’s decision to not block a possible Lebanon-Israel deal. The Iranian leadership has resolved to put down the uprising. However, it is not certain that the nuclear talks are completely finished.
The US mid-term election in November has forced all sides to take a step back and think again about how to reach a deal. This is perhaps a key reason why Tehran has shown relative goodwill and hasn't disrupted the talks. European support remains vital for Iran, and on it the latter relies to push the Biden administration into signing the nuclear deal.
The international environment must have also influenced Iran’s calculus, especially the developments in the Ukraine war that are unfavourable to Russia, an ally of Tehran.
Perhaps Hezbollah’s leadership, in light of its gradual isolation by the international community, has concluded that pacifying the Lebanese front would bring relief to its position in Lebanon. By talking about the Lebanese state’s exclusive responsibility for demarcating its maritime boundary with Israel, it is appearing not to be instructed by Iran. Thereby it is also avoiding criticism for attempting to block the extraction of Lebanon’s natural wealth during a time of economic crisis. None of this means that Hezbollah has finally returned to Beirut's fold, but it may be an important step towards the "Lebanonisation" of Hezbollah.
It is also critical that Lebanon’s national wealth be protected from the greed of the country's ruling class.
This requires creating a sovereign wealth fund and overcoming suspicious and selfish opposition whether from the so-called Shia Duo of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement or the Free Patriotic Movement, or anyone else with their agendas. However, this will not be enough. All parties taking part in the negotiations – the US, the UN and the energy and insurance companies – have a responsibility to ensure that the national oil and gas wealth will not become an easy prey for Lebanon's corrupt powers.
As a first step, Beirut should approve the creation of this fund. If it fails to do so, the citizens and the international partners must hold them to their responsibilities. Indeed, popular pressure is important, particularly over an issue that will decide the economic future of the Lebanese people.
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
If you go
The flights
Etihad flies direct from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco from Dh5,760 return including taxes.
The car
Etihad Guest members get a 10 per cent worldwide discount when booking with Hertz, as well as earning miles on their rentals. A week's car hire costs from Dh1,500 including taxes.
The hotels
Along the route, Motel 6 (www.motel6.com) offers good value and comfort, with rooms from $55 (Dh202) per night including taxes. In Portland, the Jupiter Hotel (https://jupiterhotel.com/) has rooms from $165 (Dh606) per night including taxes. The Society Hotel https://thesocietyhotel.com/ has rooms from $130 (Dh478) per night including taxes.
More info
To keep up with constant developments in Portland, visit www.travelportland.com. Good guidebooks include the Lonely Planet guides to Northern California and Washington, Oregon & the Pacific Northwest.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
More on Quran memorisation:
FOOTBALL TEST
Team X 1 Team Y 0
Scorers
Red card
Man of the Match
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HEADLINE HERE
- I would recommend writing out the text in the body
- And then copy into this box
- It can be as long as you link
- But I recommend you use the bullet point function (see red square)
- Or try to keep the word count down
- Be wary of other embeds lengthy fact boxes could crash into
- That's about it
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier, in Bangkok
UAE fixtures Mon Nov 20, v China; Tue Nov 21, v Thailand; Thu Nov 23, v Nepal; Fri Nov 24, v Hong Kong; Sun Nov 26, v Malaysia; Mon Nov 27, Final
(The winners will progress to the Global Qualifier)
The specs: McLaren 600LT
Price, base: Dh914,000
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Sunday
Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)
Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)
Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
UAE Division 1
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 12-24 Abu Dhabi Saracens
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
