After intense negotiations, Israel as well as Lebanon today it seems that they are close to the “historic” agreement on maritime delimitation and removing obstacles to the exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits in the eastern Mediterranean.

The United States has been mediating between two neighboring countries officially at war for two years to resolve their border dispute.

Lebanon and Israel expressed their satisfaction in early October with the draft agreement presented by the American mediator Amos Hochstein. But last Thursday, Israel rejected a number of Lebanese amendments.

Negotiations have continued in recent days, and Israel announced early this morning that it had received a positive response to its concerns about the Lebanese amendments.

“All our requests were accepted, the changes we asked for were made. We have defended Israel’s security interests, we are on the path to a historic agreement,” said Eyal Hulata, national security adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

A senior Lebanese official involved in the talks later indicated that Beirut had accepted the US mediator’s final offer, which “includes most of Lebanon’s demands or proposals.”

The US mediator’s final proposal will be delivered within a day to Lebanese President Michel Aoun, the same source added.

According to press and official reports, the draft agreement provides that the Karis gas field will be controlled by Israel, and the Qana gas field, located further to the northeast, by Lebanon.

But since part of this field crosses the future demarcation line, Israel will receive part of the future income from the exploitation of Qana, the same sources indicate.

In Israel, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the plan last week, accusing the government of “ceding” “sovereign territory to Israel” and threatening not to abide by the agreement if he became prime minister again after the Nov. 1 election.

Netanyahu also called for the draft agreement to be submitted to the Knesset for approval or to hold a referendum.

As the EU struggles to find alternative sources of natural gas imports after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel is relying on the Karis field, which is ready for production, to increase gas exports to the old continent.

Unlike Carisa, the Kana field is far from being able to produce natural gas.

Source: RES-IPE