EXPLAINER
Lebanon and Israel have officially approved a US-brokered deal that for the first time establishes their maritime border even though the two countries have no diplomatic relations and remain technically at war.
Months of indirect talks mediated by Amos Hochstein, the US envoy for energy affairs, resulted on Thursday in an unprecedented compromise between the neighbouring states, opening the possibility of energy explorations in 860sq km (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea that is home to offshore gasfields.
If the Israeli side is to be believed, there is more to the deal than just a border agreement, but the Lebanese side has been quick to deny that.
Contrasting views
What does the maritime border deal say?
The agreement does not include any formal recognition of Israel and is not equivalent to a peace deal.It sets a border between Lebanese and Israeli waters for the first time, largely along a line of demarcation referred to as Line 23.By tracing the line from the sea rather than land, the agreement avoids addressing the unresolved land border issue, which is much more complicated and lacks the urgency of the energy issue.Under the terms of the deal, Israel receives full rights to explore the Karish field, which is estimated to have natural gas reserves of 68 billion cubic metres (2.4 trillion cubic feet).Lebanon receives full rights in the nearby Qana field, but it agreed to allow Israel a share of the royalties through a side agreement with the French company TotalEnergies for the section of the field that extends beyond the agreed maritime border.Critics of the deal have said it does little to address the issue of profit distribution. It defers agreeing on what royalties Israel will get from the Qana field to a future date.
Is a deal to normalise relations on the cards?