Israel and Lebanon finalized an agreement defining their maritime borders in the Mediterranean on Thursday, President Joe Biden announced on Twitter, signing a US-brokered agreement on the United Nations land border mission between the countries.
The signing ceremony officially resolves a years-old maritime boundary dispute involving large oil and gas fields in the Mediterranean.
Neighboring countries – still formally at war – had been at loggerheads for years over an area of sea off the coast of Israel and Lebanon. The area in question touches the Karish oil and gas field and a region known as the Qanaa prospect. The deal gives Israel oil and gas rights in the Karish field, while Lebanon gains access to the Qanaa prospect – with Israel earning 17% of the profits.
Each side separately announced on October 11 that it had agreed to the demarcation of the border, and British energy giant Energean announced on Wednesday that it had started extracting gas from the Karish field.
Israel’s Cabinet met in a special session on Thursday to approve the deal, which Prime Minister Yair Lapid hailed as a victory for Israel “in security, economics, diplomacy and energy”, adding that “it is not every day. that an enemy country recognizes the State of Israel, in a written agreement”.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun issued a much more measured statement on Twitter ahead of the signing ceremony, denying that the agreement amounted to recognition of Israel.
“The completion of the southern maritime boundary file is a technical process without political dimensions and has no contradictory effects on Lebanon’s foreign policy towards other countries,” he tweeted.
Tensions rose in the disputed region in the summer when an Energean vessel arrived at the Karish field to develop the gas field, although the platform was positioned south of any claimed Lebanese line.
Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese Shiite militia backed by Iran, sent drones to the platform in July as a “message” to Israel and threatened to attack the platform if it started pumping gas before a deal was reached.
But a combination of factors led Israel and Lebanon to finalize the deal, including global demand for natural gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; the prospect of an agreement guaranteeing tranquility on Israel’s northern border; upcoming elections in Israel; and Lebanon’s economic need for income.
Source: CNN Brasil
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