The final ceremony marking the signing of the maritime border demarcation agreement between Lebanon and Israel ended on Thursday at the headquarters of the UN peacekeepers in Naqoura. A Lebanese diplomatic source told TASS on Thursday.
"The Lebanese and Israeli delegations handed over the documents they signed to UN special coordinator Joanna Wronecka," he said. The ceremony was attended by US emissary Amos Hochstein, who mediated between the parties, as well as the US and French ambassadors.
Earlier, Hochstein, speaking to reporters in Beirut, stressed that "the border treaty was concluded by two states that have no diplomatic relations with each other so far." Nevertheless, he called the signing of the agreement "a historic event that will strengthen peace and security in the Middle East. "
For his part, President Michel Aoun said that "the maritime border agreement does not contradict Lebanese foreign policy." According to him "nothing prevents Lebanon from developing its oil and gas fields" under the sea shelf.
There were five rounds of indirect talks in Naqoura between 2020 and 2021 under the auspices of the United States. Lebanon and Israel disputed from each other a shelf area of 856 square kilometers, each side considered it part of its exclusive economic zone in the Eastern Mediterranean. The disputed area is located at the junction of Lebanon's Qana gas field and Israel's Karish field. The maritime boundary between the two neighbors, which have been formally at war since 1948, has not yet been established.
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Based on materials from TASS