Lebanon and Israel have signed a historic agreement demarcating a long-disputed maritime border after years of US-mediated negotiations, paving the way for Lebanon to exploit the energy resources off its coast. However, analysts point out that Lebanon lacks the infrastructure and governance for a rapid shift to becoming an oil-exporting nation, so the deal is unlikely to offset the nation’s economic and social crises in the short term.
Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday signed letters of intent on the deal, formally ending a decades-long dispute between the two countries, which remain officially at war. Their new maritime borders were then submitted to the United Nations.
