BEIRUT, Lebanon

US mediator Amos Hochstein will visit Lebanon next week for talks on a maritime border dispute with Israel, the Lebanese parliament speaker said on Tuesday.

Nabih Berri told a parliamentary session that Hochstein will arrive in Beirut on Sunday or Monday.

Tension rose between Lebanon and Israel earlier this week following the entry of a ship called Energean Power into a disputed maritime area.

On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the dispute with Lebanon over natural gas will be solved within the framework of indirect negotiations under US mediation.

Lebanon and Israel are engaged in a dispute over a maritime area that is 860 square kilometers (332 square miles), according to maps sent by both counties to the UN in 2011.

The area is rich in natural gas and oil. Five sessions of indirect negotiations were held between Lebanon and Israel under UN sponsorship and US mediation. The last round of talks was in May 2021 but it was stuck because of major differences.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar