Israel, Lebanon Strike ‘Historic’ Maritime Border Agreement

NAQURA: Israel and Lebanon signed a US-brokered maritime border agreement on Thursday (October 27) to open lucrative offshore gas fields to neighboring countries that are technically at war.

US President Joe Biden welcomed the “historic” deal as he presses for Western powers to start new energy production and reduce their vulnerability to supply cuts from Russia.

The agreement entered into force after being signed separately by Lebanese President Michel Aoun in Beirut and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid in Jerusalem and handing over the documents to mediators.

“Both parties have taken the final steps to bring the agreement into force and have submitted the final documents to the United Nations in the presence of the United States,” Biden said in a statement.

Israel’s archenemy, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, has threatened to attack Israel for months if it reaches offshore gas reserves at its border before a deal is signed, before making an “exceptional” stance against the country. He said he would end the mobilization.

“Our mission is complete,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he “strongly” believed the deal could promote regional stability and bring “further prosperity to the people of Lebanon and Israel”.

The deal hopes Lebanon will emerge from what the World Bank calls one of the worst economic crises in modern history, and will help Rapid to make a big move just days before the Nov. 1 general elections. It was done when

The exchange of letters took place in the southern Lebanese border town of Nacula and was witnessed by US mediator Amos Hochstein and UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Lonecca to deposit the new maritime coordinates at UN Headquarters in New York. became.

delicate dance

“This agreement brings us one step closer to realizing our vision of a Middle East that is safer, more integrated, more prosperous, and beneficial to all people in the region,” Biden said.

Hours before signing it, Rapid had argued that Lebanon’s intention to sign the agreement amounted to de facto recognition of the Jewish state.

“It’s not every day that an enemy state recognizes the state of Israel in a written agreement before the entire international community,” he said.

Aoun denied Rapid’s claims, retorting that “defining the southern maritime border is a technical task with no political implications.”