JERUSALEM: Israel said on Wednesday it “strongly” condemned the Libyan eastern parliament’s approval of a maritime-boundaries deal with Turkiye that drew swift criticism from Israeli ally Greece.

The deal approved on Tuesday is part of a years-old dispute over competing claims to sea borders and energy exploration rights ⁠in the eastern ⁠Mediterranean.

“Regretfully, once again we see Turkiye working to destabilize the east Mediterranean region,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement.

Israeli and ⁠Turkish leaders have escalated their rhetoric against each other as they remain sharply at odds over Syria and the war in Gaza.

Greece and Turkiye, NATO allies but historic rivals, have disputed maritime borders in the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean.

Greece, Egypt ⁠and ⁠Cyprus have long been opposed to a maritime-boundaries deal between Libya and Turkiye, as they see it as an infringement on their own maritime claims.

Athens and Cairo signed an overlapping deal designating an exclusive economic zone in the eastern Mediterranean in 2020, which Turkiye opposes.