Israel, Lebanon agree on historic maritime border deal

The agreement, which needs formal approval in both countries, was hailed by leaders in Beirut and Jerusalem as a historic breakthrough. It is the first agreement on border demarcation between the two nations.

“This is an historic achievement that will strengthen Israel’s security, inject billions into Israel’s economy, and ensure the stability of our northern border,” Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement Tuesday.

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Lebanese leaders have yet to make an official announcement on the deal, but President Michel Aoun said in a tweet Tuesday that “the final version of the offer is satisfactory for Lebanon and answers its demands and preserves its rights to its natural wealth.”

President Biden made congratulatory calls Tuesday to Lapid and Aoun, “who confirmed the readiness of both governments to move forward with this agreement,” according to a White House statement. Biden hailed the deal as a “historic breakthrough in the Middle East.”

Officials hope the agreement, if finalized, will cool intensifying tensions along the frontier. Hezbollah, the Iran-allied militant group that controls southern Lebanon, has threatened to attack a new offshore gas facility that Israel is readying for production in what Lebanon claims are disputed waters. The group has launched drones toward the gas field more than once, including three unmanned aircraft that were shot down by Israel in early July.

In the face of Hezbollah’s threats to strike should Israel begin pumping natural gas from the Karish Field, Defense Minister Benny Gantz put troops on high alert after the maritime border talks ran into last-minute disputes last week.

Hezbollah, which along with its allies holds the largest bloc in the Lebanese parliament, had no immediate comment on the draft of the agreement. In a speech late Tuesday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah cautioned that “Until we sign, we must be careful in light of the contradictory Israeli positions.”

The agreement would define only the offshore boundary between the sworn enemies, not the 50-mile land border that remains in dispute after multiple wars and continues to be patrolled by a United Nations monitoring force after more than four decades.

The maritime frontier has proved to be equally contentious in recent years, particularly after gas deposits were discovered in the seabed inside the 330-square-mile region. Israel, which has already developed gas fields in nearby waters, strung a line of buoys three miles out from a rocky cliff near the U.N. headquarters. Beirut condemned the move as a unilateral provocation.

Resolving the dispute — which has gained urgency as the risk of conflict rose and Lebanon’s economic free fall has grown more critical — has been a regional priority…