BEIRUT-
Lebanon signed and handed over its copy of a US-brokered maritime border deal with Israel on Thursday to an American mediator, hoping to soon begin exploring for 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 brokered by Amos Hochstein, the US envoy for energy affairs, and would mark a major advance in relations between the two nations, which have been formally at war since the creation of Israel in 1948.
Lebanon and Israel claim about 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea that is home to offshore gas fields. Lebanon hopes that the demarcation of maritime borders will pave the way for gas exploration and help it out of its crippling economic crisis, which has plunged three-quarters of its population into poverty. Israel hopes the deal will reduce the risk of war with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
“This agreement was drafted with the idea that it would be between two countries that do not have diplomatic relations,” Hochstein told reporters at the Baabda Presidential Palace. “I think goodwill and good faith efforts on all sides is what will move this forward.”
Hochstein spoke after meeting with President Michel Aoun and senior officials and receiving the agreement signed by Lebanon. He is scheduled to meet with President Nabih Berri before heading to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon headquarters in Naqura, along the southern border, where an Israeli and Lebanese delegation will separately hand over the signed agreements and their finalized coordinates. to the UN, before Hochstein meets with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
In the meantime, Lapid has signed the deal. According to a statement from his office, a delegation led by the director general of the Ministry of Energy is on its way to the signing ceremony at Naqura, on the border.
“There is a rare consensus across security systems about the importance of the deal,” Lapid said. The Israeli cabinet approved the agreement in a special session. “This is also an economic achievement. Yesterday, gas production started from the Karish Platform.”
Tensions briefly flared between Lebanon and Israel last summer, after Israel began drilling at the Karish gas field while negotiations were taking place. Before the deal, Lebanon considered the area to be in dispute, while Israel said it was part of its exclusive economic zone recognized by the UN.
It was not immediately clear when drilling will begin, but cash-strapped Lebanon expects French oil giant Total to start soon after both sides sign and deliver the deal.
Under the agreement, the disputed waters would be divided along a line on both sides of the “Qana” natural gas field. Gas production would be based on the Lebanese side, but Israel would be compensated for gas extracted from its side of the line.
President Aoun earlier this month, in a televised speech, announced Lebanon’s approval of the maritime border agreement. Israel’s Supreme Court has rejected four legal challenges against the deal, after its government also approved the plan.
In 2017, Lebanon approved licenses for an international consortium including France’s Total, Italy’s ENI and Russia’s Novatek to advance offshore oil and gas development for two of 10 blocks in the Mediterranean Sea. Novatek recently pulled out and officials including Energy Minister Walid Fayad have said that Qatar is interested in filling that void.
“I really believe and hope that this can be an economic turning point in Lebanon for a new era of continued investment and support to boost the economy,” Hochstein said.
Since then, Lebanon has reached out to Syria and Cyprus to start direct negotiations on their northern and western maritime borders as well.