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Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has announced Israel and Lebanon have reached an historic agreement over their maritime border.
On Tuesday, Mr Lapid confirmed the draft agreement meets all of Israel’s “security, economic, and legal demands”, while Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun also expressed a similar sentiment stating: “Lebanon is satisfied with the final version of the agreement. Our demands have been met”.
The agreement aims to end a long-running dispute over Israel and Lebanon’s maritime border in the Mediterranean Sea, where exploration has revealed a rich range of natural gas deposits. There is hope that the new gas deposits available to Lebanon will allow them to become less reliant on Iran for their energy needs.
The most important part of the deal was maintaining the “line of buoys”, a line marked by Israel when it withdrew from the security zone in 2000. The line will remain as the status quo and the Lebanese navy will still remain unable to directly see or target the Israeli coastline. The deal itself also only pertains to Israel’s exclusive offshore economic zones and not its sovereign territory.
The deal has already been approved by Israel’s security cabinet and now must advance to a meeting of the full cabinet, where is it expected to be approved. The interim government has the power to put the agreement to a vote in the Knesset, or simply provide it with the details of the agreement, a decision on this has yet to be made. Although, Israel’s Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, who abstained from the security cabinet vote, said she would not support the deal if it was not put to a vote in the Knesset. Israel’s attorney general has said the government is legally entitled to sign the deal, despite the proximity of elections and the fact it remains an interim government.
The Israeli Defence Minister, Benny Gantz, said: “I commend the announcement by the Lebanese President, accepting the agreement. The State of Israel is interested in having a stable and prosperous Lebanese neighbour. The agreement in discussion is just and positive for both sides”. He added: “We will continue protecting our security interests in any scenario and ensuring the security of the citizens of Israel.
The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, who threatened to attack Israel if they extracted gas before a deal was signed, responded to the news in a televised address stating: “If the president announces that Lebanon’s official position supports the agreement. Our demands have been met”. He added: “Tonight we will neither threaten nor make promises, tonight we are calm and without slogans, tonight is about joy, and I was careful in every word I say so that the enemy does not benefit from any word”.
