Historic deal between Israel-Lebanon: Terms, significance

What the agreement is about

The draft agreement, floated by US envoy Amos J Hochstein, who is the special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs and leads the bureau of energy resources (ENR) at the US Department of State, aims to settle Israel and Lebanon’s competing claims over offshore gas fields in the region.

According to a report by The Times of Israel, on Tuesday morning, Eyal Hulata, Israel’s national security adviser and the lead negotiator at the talks, had said in a statement, “All our demands were met, the changes that we asked for were corrected. We protected Israel’s security interests and are on our way to an historic agreement.”

The statement came shortly after Lebanon’s representative Elias Bou Saab had said the agreement had satisfied the country’s earlier concerns. Saab told Reuters that the latest draft “takes into consideration all of Lebanon’s requirements and we believe that the other side should feel the same.”

The issue is a little over a decade old, after the two countries declared overlapping boundaries in 2011 in the Mediterranean Sea. Since both countries have been technically at war, the United Nations was asked to mediate.

The issue gained significance after Israel discovered two gas fields off its coast a decade ago, which experts had believed could help turn it into an energy exporter, according to a BBC report from 2011.

What the agreement does

While Israel is already producing natural gas at nearby fields, what this agreement does is that it resolves a territorial dispute in the eastern Mediterranean sea, in an area that Lebanon wants to explore for natural gas.

The gas field in question is located on the maritime boundary between the two countries and this agreement would allow both countries to get royalties from the gas. It also sets a border between the maritime waters of Lebanon and Israel for the first time.

According to a New York Times report, the agreement is also expected to avert the immediate threat of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, after fears of escalation if negotiations fell apart.

The report states that analysts hope that the agreement will create new sources of energy and income for both countries, particularly important for Lebanon, which is facing a crippling energy and financial crises.

It could also have a potentially wider impact: it would likely provide Europe with a potential new source of gas amid energy shortages caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

What the agreement does not address

The agreement does not touch on the shared land border between Israel and Lebanon, which is still disputed, but where both countries are committed to a ceasefire. This border is also called the Blue Line, a boundary that was drawn up by the UN after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.

This land border is currently patrolled by the United Nations forces. According to a Reuters report, settling the land border dispute between Lebanon and Israel is much more complicated and this dispute lacks the urgency of the energy component. Also, any resolution with regard to this land border would likely depend on a broader peace deal that is not realistic anytime soon, the Reuters report said.