Lebanese and Israeli officials on Thursday signed a final “historic agreement” to demarcate maritime boundaries between them after months of harrowing, months-long US-brokered negotiations. The delegations of the two countries, still at war, in Naqoura, a border town in the extreme south of Lebanon, in two separate premises of the headquarters of the United Nations, will present a letter containing their approval to the American mediator.
Elias Bou Saab, Lebanon’s chief negotiator, told reporters Thursday that President Michel Aoun signed a letter endorsing a “historic” United States-brokered agreement to demarcate his country’s maritime borders with Israel. Speaking from the presidential palace, Bou Saab added that the signing represented a “new era” and that the letter would be delivered later Thursday to US officials at the border crossing in Lebanon’s extreme south at Naqurah.
On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, at a cabinet meeting during which the government approved the agreement, considered that Lebanon “recognized” the State of Israel by agreeing to the agreement. He said: “This is a political achievement. It’s not every day that an enemy state recognizes the State of Israel in a written agreement in front of the entire international community.” The agreement, which will allow the Jewish state to start producing gas in the region, will come into effect, according to text seen by Agence France-Presse, when the United States sends “a notification containing confirmation of the consent of each party to the provisions stipulated in the agreement.”
On the eve of the signing, Energean announced the start of gas production on Wednesday from the Karish offshore field, which was located in the disputed zone and, under the agreement, was completely transferred to the share of Tel Aviv. And Lebanon, mired in economic collapse, hopes to start drilling at the earliest opportunity. A few months ago, events related to the demarcation of the maritime border accelerated after a months-long hiatus due to disagreements over the area of this region. After meetings and shuttle contacts, American mediator Amos Hochstein, whose country has been leading mediation for two years, presented his latest proposal earlier this month, and both sides announced their approval of it.
On Thursday, Hochstein met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berry to travel to the United Nations force headquarters in the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura, where the agreement will be signed, in the afternoon. after which he will move to Israel. After meeting with Aun, Hochstein expressed his joy at achieving “this historic day in the region … and with an agreement that creates hope, economic opportunity and stability for both sides of the border.” He added: “Now that we have reached this milestone, what matters is what happens next and I hope this will be an economic turning point for Lebanon, for a new round of investment and support for the development of the economy.”
Since the two countries are at war, each side must deliver a letter containing their consent to the American mediator in separate rooms. In this regard, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the agreement “will take the form of an exchange of two messages, one between Lebanon and the US and the other between Israel and the US.”
The signing will be attended by the United Nations Special Coordinator in Lebanon, Yoana Frontek, where she will be given the geographic coordinates associated with the demarcation of the sea line, which the two sides have agreed to transfer to the United Nations. These coordinates will replace those sent by the two countries to the UN in 2011.
For his part, the representative of the Lebanese presidency explained that the mission of the Lebanese delegation would be limited to “delivering the message only in the presence of Hochstein and the UN representative, and he would not meet with the Israeli delegation at all. Before the expiration of President Aoun’s term at the end of this month, Lebanon, mired in crises and serious political divisions, had not yet decided who would sign the agreement.
In turn, US President Joe Biden said after meeting with his Israeli counterpart Yitzhak Herzog on Wednesday that the agreement “will create new hopes and economic opportunities.” He called it “historic”. Reaching an agreement has not been easy, as talks that began in 2020 stumbled several times and then accelerated since early June following the arrival of a mining and storage vessel near the Karish field, which Lebanon says is in the disputed zone.
Under the new agreement, the Karish field will be entirely on the Israeli side, while the agreement guarantees Lebanon the Qana field, which extends beyond the demarcation line separating the two sides. Block No. 9, where the Cana field is located, will become the main exploration area of the French company Total and the Italian Eni, which have received oil and gas exploration contracts. Energean said it hopes to produce 6.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year in the near future, and later this amount will increase to eight billion cubic meters per year. She added: “We are pleased to announce the safe production of the first volumes of gas from the Karish field off the coast of Israel. The flow of gas is steadily increasing.” On the Lebanese side, the authorities announced that an agreement had been reached with the French company Total to begin exploration phases immediately after the final agreement. But, despite the agreement, experts believe that Lebanon is still far away.
