“This Agreement shall enter into force on the date on which the United States Government sends a notice confirming each party’s agreement to the provisions of this Agreement,” the draft reads.
On the day Washington sends this notification, Lebanon and Israel will simultaneously send identical coordinates to the United Nations defining the location of the maritime boundary.
Highlights of the agreement
The negotiations surrounding the demarcation of the maritime borders between Lebanon and Israel were largely surrounded by secrecy, but they reached an agreement that suggested some details, according to the Associated Press, among the most prominent points that were revealed:
- Under the agreement, the Karish field became completely on the Israeli side. In return, the agreement guarantees Lebanon control of the “Qana field”, which goes beyond the demarcation line separating the two sides.
- Block 9, where the Qana field is located, will be a key point for exploration by Total and Eni, which were awarded contracts for oil and gas exploration in 2018.
- An Israeli official explained that fees will be paid to Israel for any gas extracted from the Israeli side, for the Qana field, while Lebanese officials indicated that the two exploration companies will pay these fees.
- The “line of buoys” will be left in place as the de facto maritime border between Lebanon and Israel. Israel had installed this line, after its withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. The length of the “buoy line” is three miles, and extends from the coast of Ras Al-Naqoura to the Mediterranean Sea.
- Although the agreement was announced, it has not yet received final approvals. This may take weeks, after which the United States will exchange the final texts between the two parties.
The Lebanese President and the “gift”
The maritime border demarcation agreement between Lebanon and Israel represents an important settlement. It may pave the way for talks on the land border, which is still under dispute.
For his part, Lebanese President Michel Aoun affirmed that the completion of the southern maritime border demarcation agreement after indirect negotiations with Israel will enable Lebanon to extract oil and gas and thus will be pulled out of the abyss into which it was brought down as a result of not changing the method of governance for years, in addition to the waste that marred the work of institutions and administrations. the public.
Noting that the demarcation agreement is a gift to the Lebanese people in all its categories, President Aoun revealed that next week the process of returning the displaced Syrians to their country will begin in batches.
The Israeli side
The alternative prime minister, former prime minister, Naftali Bennett, said that the agreement with Lebanon is not a historic victory, but it is also not a surrender agreement.
Not everything that is good for Lebanon is bad for Israel, Lapid said.
Lapid said that after reviewing the opinion of the leaders of the security services, he decided to vote with the decision, as there is a small window that should have been used.
The cabinet session ended, and its members voted on Prime Minister Lapid’s summary according to the following text:
“There is an urgent importance and necessity to reach the maritime agreement with Lebanon during this period. The members of the cabinet expressed their support for pushing forward the procedures for ratification of the agreement by the government.”
All cabinet members unanimously supported the text, except for Minister Ayelet Shaked, who abstained, according to the prime minister’s spokesman for Arab media.
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