Lebanon, Israel Sign ‘Historic’ Deal for Maritime Border Demarcation

In this photo released by Lebanon's official government photographer Dalati Nohra, Lebanese President Michel Aoun, right, receives from US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein, the US-brokered deal setting a maritime border between Lebanon and Israel, at the presidential palace, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022. (Dalati Nohra via AP)

Lebanon and Israel ended ten years of US-mediated indirect negotiations for demarcating maritime borders by striking a “historic” deal on Thursday. With UN mediation, delegates from each of the enemy countries exchanged signed letters in the southern Lebanese border town of Naqoura.

Despite signing the deal with Israel, Lebanon insists that the agreement is purely “technical” and has no “political dimensions.”