BEIRUT - (Xinhua) - The Information Office of the Lebanese Presidency announced, Sunday evening, that the American mediator in the indirect negotiations to demarcate the maritime borders between Lebanon and Israel , Amos Hochstein, will send within hours a copy containing a final version of the proposal related to the demarcation of the maritime borders.

The office said in a statement, "The Lebanese side will study the final formula carefully, in preparation for taking the appropriate decision."

The statement stated that Aoun received a phone call from Hochstein, "during which he was briefed on the results of the recent rounds of contacts with the Lebanese side on the one hand, and the Israeli side on the other, during which the observations submitted by the two parties were studied."

He added, "Hockstein made it clear that the discussion rounds have concluded, and the notes that he will send during the next few hours have been determined in a copy that includes the final version of the proposal related to the demarcation of the southern maritime borders."

An Israeli rejection of the amendments and observations submitted by Lebanon last (Monday) on Hochstein's proposal to demarcate the maritime borders put an end to a stage of optimism in reaching an agreement and opened the door to several possibilities and repercussions.

Lebanon's observations on the border demarcation proposal, according to the Lebanese presidency, came earlier to "guarantee Lebanon's rights to explore for oil and natural gas," and "the observations prevent any interpretations that do not apply to the framework set by Lebanon for the demarcation process during the negotiations."

In turn, the official "Israeli Broadcasting Corporation" had said last Thursday that Prime Minister Yair Lapid rejects Lebanon's observations on the text of the draft agreement presented by the American mediator last week.

During the past months, Hochstein conducted shuttle rounds between Lebanon and Israel to reach a settlement over their dispute over a maritime border area in the Mediterranean waters, which is believed to contain quantities of gas and oil.

It is noteworthy that the negotiations on the demarcation of the maritime borders between Lebanon and Israel were launched in 2020 under the auspices of the United Nations and with American mediation, and then stopped in May 2021 due to differences over the size of the disputed area.