Israel said Tuesday morning that a “historic” deal with Lebanon for a long-running maritime border dispute over gas-rich Mediterranean waters was near, after a proposal drafted through the United States met Israeli “demands. “
“All our requests were met, the adjustments we requested were corrected. We have Israel’s security interests and are on our way to a historic settlement,” Eyal Hulata, national security adviser and lead negotiator for the talks, said in a statement. .
His comments came after Lebanon won the updated draft of the US-brokered maritime agreement with Israel, which Beirut’s most sensible negotiator said addressed his previous considerations and could lead imminently to a “historic deal. “
“If all goes well, Amos Hochstein’s efforts may lead imminently to a historic agreement,” Bou Saab told Reuters, referring to the Biden administration’s power envoy, who has led negotiations between Jerusalem and Beirut for the past 15 months.
Hochstein had been engaged in extensive talks for a week after presenting what at the time was described as a final proposal to resolve a dispute over a series of fuel fields off the coasts of Israel and Lebanon, two officially at war and unidentified countries. maritime border between them.
A deal would end a long-standing dispute over some 860 kilometers (330 miles) of the Mediterranean Sea, which covers the Karish and Qana fuel fields.
Although the main points of the agreement have been officially made public, officials said last week’s proposal gives Jerusalem foreign popularity for its border marked five kilometers (3. 1 miles) from the northern city of Rosh Hanikra, which Israel established in 2000. After that, Israel’s border will adhere to the southern boundary of the disputed domain known as Line 23.
Lebanon will enjoy the economic benefits of dominance north of Line 23, adding the Qana fuel field, a senior Israeli official who briefed reporters on the deal said Jerusalem would get a refund for giving up its rights to Qana, part of which will be in what the deal recognizes as Israeli waters.
While Jerusalem indicated its openness to last week’s proposal, it temporarily rejected through Lebanon, which reportedly has reservations about the official popularity of the border marked through a buoy set by Israel. Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office then made it clear that it would not back down on the request.
Lebanon also reportedly opposed the previous draft’s call for Israel to get a percentage of the revenue from the fuel produced in Qana.
Saab, the Lebanese negotiator, revealed the main points of Hochstein’s most recent amendments to the proposed maritime border, but they are believed to be similar to the buoy border and the Qana fuel field.
Last Thursday, Hebrew media reported that the head of Israel’s Energy Ministry told ministers at a cabinet assembly that estimates of the amount of herbal fuel that could be extracted from Qana, the reservoir amid a maritime dispute, were much lower than in the first place. thought.
The revelation appears to be an attempt through the ministry’s director to convince cautious ministers to sign up for the US-brokered maritime deal by emphasizing that Israel will only commit to a reservoir that can offer very limited benefit while enjoying foreign recognition. the Mediterranean much more profitable.
The White House declined to accompany the submission of an updated proposal to Israel and Lebanon late Monday, but a National Security Council spokesman said Hochstein “continues his business engagement with the final discussions on the maritime border. “We remain in close communication with the Israelis and the Lebanese.
A senior State Department official told Al Arabiya English that the United States is “very close” to reaching a deal, adding that “the choice is war. “
After a phone call with Hochstein on Sunday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun expressed optimism Monday that a deal would be finalized “in a few days. “
“The negotiations have moved and the gaps have been closed over the last week,” he said.
On Saturday, Israeli security gave Energean the green light to begin testing the Karish pipeline, and full operations are expected to begin in a few weeks. Israel has insisted it will not wait for a deal, but only allowed Energean to take the initial steps. .
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has continuously threatened that his Lebanese terror organization will attack Israel if it begins fuel exploration in Karish before a maritime deal is reached. In more recent rounds of talks, Lebanon began claiming ownership of Karish in addition to Qana. The request was widely rejected, with Israel insisting that its Karish envelope is non-negotiable.
Israel and Lebanon also never agreed to demarcate their land border, adhering to a UN-imposed “Blue Line” ceasefire, leaving their exclusive economic zone on the high seas in dispute. The lack of a maritime border had not been a major challenge until a decade ago. when a fuel discovery providence began in the eastern Mediterranean, which could reshape the economic future of the region.
Successive U. S. administrations The U. S. has sought to negotiate a maritime agreement, with Hochstein also leading talks under the Obama administration. The effort resumed several years later when Donald Trump was president, but made little progress.
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