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News > Israel

Israel-Lebanon Agreement Signed Under US Mediation

  • Lebanon does not recognize Israel as a legitimate state and continues to consider itself at war with its neighbor. Oct. 27, 2022.

    Lebanon does not recognize Israel as a legitimate state and continues to consider itself at war with its neighbor. Oct. 27, 2022. | Photo: Twitter/@mena_trends

Published 27 October 2022
Opinion

On Thursday, Israeli and Lebanese leaders finalized a U.S.-mediated maritime demarcation agreement.
 

Without a joint signing ceremony, Lebanese President Michel Aoun signed a letter approving the agreement in the presence of Amos Hochstein, the U.S. official who brokered the deal.

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The governments of Lebanon, Israel and the U.S., as mediators, have described the agreement as "historic." However, they agreed that the possibility of a broader diplomatic breakthrough is limited.

The agreement includes a measure providing offshore energy exploration between the states formally at war.

Lower-level delegations from each country headed to the UN peacekeeping base in Naqoura along their disputed land border, which has not yet been delineated.

The delegations handed their signed copies of the agreement to the U.S. officials and their new maritime border coordinates to the UN, officially putting the agreement into effect.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid signed separately in Jerusalem. According to him, the agreement was a significant achievement because it would have produced de facto recognition of Israel by Lebanon.

The Lebanese president said the agreement was purely technical and would have "no political dimension or impact that contradicts Lebanon's foreign policy."

Lebanon does not recognize Israel as a legitimate state and continues to consider itself at war with its neighbor, with laws prohibiting contact with Israeli officials.

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka welcomed the agreement and said she hopes it "will serve as a confidence-building measure that will promote more security and stability in the region and economic benefits for both countries."
 

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