By Timour Azhari and Maayan Lubell
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM -Lebanon and Israel have reached a historic agreement demarcarting a disputed maritime border between them following years of U.S.-mediated negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Tuesday.
While limited in scope, a deal would mark a significant compromise between states with a history of war and hostility, opening the way for offshore energy exploration and easing a source of recent tensions.
"This is a historic achievement that will strengthen Israel's security, inject billions into Israel's economy, and ensure the stability of our northern border," Lapid said in a statement.
In Lebanon, President Michel Aoun said the terms of the final U.S. proposal were satisfactory and he hoped the deal would be announced as soon as possible.
He received a congratulatory call on Wednesday from U.S. President Joe Biden, who told him the U.S. stood by Lebanon as it sought to strengthen the economy through possible gas wealth, Auon's office said.
The agreement is meant to resolve a territorial dispute in the eastern Mediterranean sea in an area where Lebanon aims to explore for natural gas. Israel is already producing natural gas at fields nearby.
It sets a border between Lebanese and Israeli waters for the first time and also establishes a mechanism for both countries to get royalties from TotalEnergies' exploration of an offshore gas field that straddles the boundary.
The deal does not touch on their shared land border.
Lebanese negotiator Elias Bou 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."
It was also endorsed by the heavily armed, Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which until recently has threatened to attack Israeli gas facilities, according to two officials.
A senior Lebanese government official and an official close to Hezbollah said the group had agreed to the terms of the deal and considered negotiations "over." Hezbollah has yet to formally comment.
While Israel has moved ahead with production and export of natural gas, Lebanon's efforts have been hamstrung by political dysfunction.
A gas find would be a major boon for Lebanon, which has been mired in financial crisis since 2019, and could fix Lebanon's long-standing failure to produce adequate electricity for its population.
A senior delegation from TotalEnergies met with Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Energy Minister Walid Fayyad in Beirut on Tuesday.
Mikati said TotalEnergies would begin exploration as soon as a deal was formally announced. TotalEnergies has not commented on the meeting.
While Lebanon, Israel and the United States have hailed the end of negotiations, the deal itself has yet to receive final stamps of approval in either Tel Aviv or Beirut.
Lapid, who faces a Nov. 1 election, plans to seek approval on Wednesday for the deal from his security cabinet and then the government, before it is reviewed by parliament. An Israeli official said final approval was expected within the next three weeks.
Lebanon's president, prime minister and speaker of parliament are expected to issue their approval of the deal without sending the draft to parliament. Opposition parliamentarians have criticised Lebanon's approach to the deal, saying it had made too many concessions.
Aoun has said a deal would not signify a "partnership" with Israel, a country Lebanon does not recognise and officially regards as an enemy.
"We are avoiding a sure-fire war in the region," Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said last week.
