The agreement has been reached with American mediation and is expected to mean the go-ahead for further gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, in a situation where many countries want to make themselves less dependent on Russian energy resources.
US President Joe Biden describes the agreement as a “historic breakthrough”.
Israeli President Yair Lapid, who is in the middle of the final sprint before Tuesday’s Israeli elections, describes it as Lebanon, with the agreement, now formally recognizing Israel.
“It’s not every day that an enemy state recognizes the state of Israel, in a written agreement, in front of the entire international community,” he says in connection with his government’s green light for the agreement.
Lebanon’s government has not commented on the agreement or Yair Lapid’s description of it.
The settlement draws a dividing line with coordinates in a sea area that extends over 860 square kilometers. For Lebanon, gas extraction could be a way out of the deep economic crisis in which the country finds itself.
The agreement will not be concluded through any handshakes or meetings. The parties will not even sign the same paper, which means that delegations from each country meet with the US mediator on different occasions to hand over a copy.