Israel and Lebanon have reached an agreement brokered by the United States to resolve a long-standing dispute over maritime boundaries that could unlock the exploitation of gas resources in the area, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Tuesday.
Lebanon and Israel are still technically at war and have no diplomatic relations.
“It is a historic milestone that will strengthen Israel’s security, inject billions into Israel’s economy and ensure the stability of our northern border,” Lapid said in a statement.
The United States has been acting as a mediator for two years in an attempt to resolve the border dispute between the two neighbors in a gas-rich area of the Mediterranean.
US envoy Amos Hochstein presented a proposal earlier this month that appeared to have been well received by both sides.
The Lebanese presidency had previously said that the final proposal put forward by Hochstein was “satisfactory for Lebanon” and that it hoped to announce the agreed limits “as soon as possible”.
The agreement establishes a border between Lebanese and Israeli waters for the first time and also a mechanism for both countries to obtain royalties from an offshore gas field that crosses the border. There is no mention of the shared land border, which is now patrolled by the United Nations.
Lebanese negotiator Elias Bou Saab told Reuters the latest draft “takes into account all of Lebanon’s demands and we believe the other side should feel the same.”
The pact was also endorsed by the heavily armed and Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which until recently threatened to attack Israeli gas facilities, according to two senior officials.
According to the local press and to those responsible for the negotiation, the proposal envisages leaving the Karish gas field under Israeli control and giving Lebanon another gas field, from Qana, located further to the northeast, to Lebanon.
However, a part of this deposit will cross the border line between the two countries, with which Israel would take part of the exploration benefits, these sources indicated.
Either way, gas exploration would be a huge boon for Lebanon, which has been mired in a very serious financial crisis since 2019.
In a context of gas shortages in Europe due to the War in Ukraine, Israel wants to start exploration in the Karish field as soon as possible to export to the Old Continent. On Sunday, the British company started tests to connect this offshore field with Israel.
Although at one point negotiation efforts appeared to collapse after Israel rejected Beirut’s amendments, talks continued until a final deal was sealed.
“All our demands have been met, the changes we asked for have been corrected. We protect Israel’s security interests and are on the way to a historic agreement,” Israel’s chief negotiator Eyal Hulata said in a note on Tuesday.
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