US-brokered deal is ‘permanent, equitable resolution of maritime dispute’ between Israel, Lebanon

BEIRUT: The US-brokered deal delineating the maritime boundary between Israel and Lebanon is intended to be a lasting resolution to their longtime dispute, the draft seen by Reuters on Wednesday said.
It will enter into force once Lebanon and Israel send letters to the United States indicating their agreement, after which the United States will issue a notice to both officially announcing the deal is in place.
On the day Washington sends that notice, Lebanon and Israel will then simultaneously send identical coordinates to the United Nations laying out the location of the maritime boundary.

Israel’s Security Cabinet voted in favor of the the deal, the first of several procedural hurdles before the agreement is formally adopted.
The snap vote by Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s senior ministers came a day after he announced that Israel agreed to the terms of the landmark deal between the two countries that have formally been in a state of war since 1948.
Lebanon and Israel both claim around 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea that are home to offshore gas fields. At stake are rights over exploiting those undersea resources.
Under the agreement, the disputed waters would be divided along a line straddling the strategic “Qana” natural gas field.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the Security Cabinet voted unanimously in favor of ratifying the agreement, with one minister abstaining, setting up a vote by the full Cabinet.
Lebanon hopes gas exploration will help lift its country out of its spiraling economic crisis. Israel also hopes to exploit gas reserves while also easing tensions with its northern neighbor.
But the deal still faces numerous hurdles, including legal and political challenges in Israel.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition to freeze the deal because of its approval just weeks before Israel goes to its fifth elections in just under four years on Nov. 1.