According to Al Jazeera on the 11th, Israel and Lebanon have reached a US-brokered agreement to resolve the long-disputed maritime border issue between the two sides and open up channels for Israel to export natural gas to Europe.

On October 11th local time, Lebanon and Israel announced that they had reached a demarcation agreement between the two countries on the eastern waters of the Mediterranean .

Local time on October 11, 2022, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (right) took over the final draft of the maritime border agreement between Lebanon and Israel from his deputy, Elias Bou Saab, who led the Lebanese negotiation team. Visual China Picture

According to Al Jazeera html on the 211th, Israel and Lebanon have reached an agreement mediated by the United States to resolve the long-standing maritime border issue between the two sides and open a channel for Israel to export natural gas to Europe.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying that this "historic achievement" will defend Israel's security, maintain stability in the northern border, and help Israel obtain economic benefits. Lebanese President Michel Aoun also issued a statement on the same day expressing satisfaction with the agreement, saying that it meets Lebanese needs and protects Lebanese rights and interests.

Both leaders said that the agreement still needs to be approved by their respective governments before it is officially signed. The agreement may be signed later this month. After the agreement is signed, Israel can quickly fulfill its commitment to sell natural gas to EU .

Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic relations and have not yet lifted the hostility. Both countries claim sovereignty over a water area of ​​about 860 square kilometers in the eastern Mediterranean, hoping to develop rich oil and gas resources contained in the seabed. Starting from October 2020, under the auspices of the United States mediation and the UN , the two countries held multiple rounds of indirect negotiations on the division of maritime borders. However, due to serious differences, negotiations were postponed indefinitely.

According to the latest agreement, the previously disputed Karish natural gas fields between the two countries will be completely classified as Israel, and Lebanon will obtain most of the adjacent Ghana gas fields, but it will need to pay part of the proceeds from mining natural gas to the Israeli side.