By Mia Alberti, Hadas Gold, Lianne Kolirin and Mostafa Salem, CNN
Israel and Lebanon have dreamed of a historic deal, leaders said in all respects on Tuesday, resolving a years-long maritime border dispute involving large oil and fuel deposits in the Mediterranean.
The United States will negotiate an agreement between neighboring countries over the domain of the 860-square-kilometre (332-square-mile) sea that has been disputed for years.
It includes the Karish oil and fuel box and a domain known as the Qanaa prospect, which are expected to fall into Israeli and Lebanese waters respectively as part of the deal. Israel said it would start extracting oil and fuel from Karish and exporting it to Europe shortly.
“The final edition of the supply of goods is acceptable to Lebanon and meets its needs and has preserved Lebanon’s rights to this plant wealth,” Lebanese President Michel Aoun said a few hours after receiving Israel’s offer of goods through U. S. mediator Amos Hochstein.
Aoun said he hoped the deal, which has yet to be signed, would be announced “as soon as possible. “
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid: “This is a historic achievement that will contribute to Israel’s security, inject billions into the Israeli economy, and ensure the stability of our northern border.
The draft agreement respects all economic and security principles enunciated by Israel, Lapid said.
Israel’s minister will convene the security cabinet on Wednesday, followed by a special cabinet meeting, he said.
Lebanese officials said the deal means a “treaty” will be signed with Israel and that the deal is a step toward normalizing relations between the two countries, which are technically at war.
Earlier Tuesday, Lebanese negotiator and deputy speaker of parliament Elias Bou Saab told CNN that “Lebanon felt that [the deal] takes into consideration all of Lebanon’s demands and we think the other aspect feels the same. “
Meanwhile, Israel’s chief negotiator, Eyal Hulata, said: “All our demands have been met, the adjustments we ask for have been corrected. We have Israel’s security interests and we are on our way to a historic settlement. “
On Tuesday, Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayyad also said French power company Total, which has the contract to explore Lebanese waters, would begin work on Qanaa’s prospect “immediately. “
The talks gained momentum after Energean, the London-based oil and fuel exploration company, arrived in June to begin the progression of the Karish box on behalf of Israel. Although the vessel Energean is far south of the disputed domain, part of the box is in a claimed domain. through Lebanon.
Hezbollah, the tough Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite militia, had threatened the Energean fuel platform if it started generating fuel before reaching a deal.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah declined to comment when contacted via CNN, but the Iranian-backed armed organization has said in the past that it will respect any deal signed by the Lebanese government.
The landmark agreement does not set borders, but it will most likely ease the security and economic tensions of either nation.
Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday that a deal “will save us from a definitive war in the region. “
El-CNN-Wire™
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