Israeli and Lebanese leaders on Thursday finalized a U. S. -brokered maritime demarcation of the country. The U. S. government brings agreements between enemy states while exploring offshore energy.
The leaders of Lebanon, Israel and the United States have hailed the deal as “historic,” but the chance of broader diplomatic progress remains slim.
As a result, there was no joint signing ceremony: Lebanese President Michel Aoun signed a letter approving the deal at his Baabda Palace in the presence of the US official who negotiated the deal, Amos Hochstein.
“We have heard about the Abraham Accords. Today, there is a new era. This may simply be the Amos Hochstein deal,” said Lebanese chief negotiator and deputy speaker of parliament Elias Bou Saab, referring to the normalization of relations between Israel and Israel. in 2020, under the auspices of the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed in Jerusalem and said the deal was a “tremendous achievement” that produced Israel’s de facto popularity in Lebanon.
“It’s not every day an enemy country recognizes the State of Israel, in a written agreement, in full view of the foreign community,” Lapid told his closet in a televised address.
But Aoun later said the deal was purely “technical” and would “not have a political size or have an effect that would contradict Lebanon’s foreign policy. “
Lower-level delegations from the country headed to the United Nations peacekeeping base in Naqoura along its disputed land border, which has yet to be demarcated.
There, they presented their signed copies of the agreement to U. S. officials. The US and its new coordinates for the maritime border to the UN, officially putting the agreement into effect.
The agreement comes days before major political milestones for Israel and Lebanon.
Aoun’s term will end on Oct. 31 and political resources say he is willing to seal the deal as the biggest achievement of his six years in power.
Israel will hold elections on Nov. 1, the fifth in less than four years. Hochstein said the deal will be respectable even if officials on both sides are replaced and that the United States will continue to play a guarantor role in making sure it remains in place.
“If one party violates the agreement, either party loses,” he said. The deal is a potential source of confrontation between Israel and Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization and could help ease Lebanon’s economic crisis.
An offshore energy discovery, while not enough on its own to solve Lebanon’s deep economic unrest, would be a boon, offering much-needed hard currency and one day mitigating crippling blackouts.
The marine spaces of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant have allowed important discoveries of fuel during the last decade and interest has increased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine interrupted pipeline flows.
On a Thursday, US President Joe Biden said power in the region “should not be a cause of conflict, but a tool for cooperation, stability, security and prosperity. “
Lebanon’s tough armed organization, Hezbollah, has quietly given the green light to the deal. Its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, will give a televised speech on Thursday afternoon.
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