Israeli and Lebanese leaders have signed a landmark U.S-brokered agreement on their maritime boundary, marking a diplomatic departure from decades of hostility and opening the way to offshore energy exploration.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun signed a letter approving the deal in Baada, followed by Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s signature in Jerusalem, with a handover ceremony of less-senior delegations set to take place at the UN peacekeeping base in Naqoura along the border.
Lapid hailed the deal as a “tremendous achievement” and Lebanese negotiator Elias Bou Saab said it marked the beginning of “a new era” between the two sides, which nevertheless remain technically at war.