Lebanon signs maritime border deal with Israel

Lebanon signed and delivered its copy of a US-mediated sea border deal with Israel on Thursday to a US mediator, hoping to soon start exploring gas in its southern maritime blocs to bring economic stability to the crisis-ridden country.

The agreement to demarcate the maritime border comes after months of indirect talks mediated by Amos Hochstein, the US envoy for energy affairs, and would mark a major breakthrough in relations between the two nations, which have formally been at war since Israel’s creation in 1948.

Lebanon and Israel both claim around 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea that are home to offshore gas fields.

In remarks to journalists at Baabda Presidential Palace, Hochstein said the agreement marked "a historic day in the region of securing, showing what's possible under these circumstances" adding it created open economic opportunity and stability for both sides of the border.

Hochstein spoke after meeting with President Michel Aoun and senior officials and receiving Lebanon’s signed agreement.

He is scheduled to meet with Speaker Nabih Berri before heading to the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon headquarters in Naqoura by the southern border, where an Israeli and Lebanese delegation will separately deliver signed agreements and their finalized coordinates to the UN, before Hochstein meets with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

Meanwhile, Lapid has signed the agreement.

According to a statement from his office, a delegation led by the Energy Ministry's director general is on its way to the signing ceremony in Naqoura at the border.

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