Lebanon on Monday received the finalised draft of a US-backed maritime agreement with Israel, a senior diplomatic source told The National, bringing to the finish line a historic pact between the Mediterranean neighbours whose history has until now been marked by multiple conflicts.
The draft was received around midnight local time in Lebanon, and official sources in Beirut were hopeful about getting an agreement done based on the final text, which after approval will be sent to the United Nations.
The development came after some last-minute negotiations about one single word in the agreement, the official said, without saying which word was in question. That hurdle appears to have now been resolved.
It was not immediately clear if Israel had also received the finalised draft. The maritime agreement, months in the making, was expected imminently after US special envoy Amos Hochstein spoke to Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Sunday.
At stake in the long-running maritime dispute is access to and control of what are thought to be highly productive oil and gasfields that straddle both sides of the border.
A resolution would delineate the maritime border between Lebanon and its southern neighbour for the first time since Israel was established in 1948. The two foes are still technically in a state of war.
Contacted by The National, a White House official said the deal was getting closer.
“We are at a critical stage in the negotiations and the gaps have narrowed,” the White House official said on condition of anonymity.
Lebanon had submitted a handful of modifications to a US proposal to end a long-running maritime border dispute with Israel.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati said last week the proposal was “on the right track to assert Lebanon's rights over all its waters”.
After 15 months of indirect negotiations and shuttle diplomacy by Mr Hochstein between Lebanon and Israel, the deal is now regarded as near completion and could be hours away.
