Israel endorses maritime demarcation deal with Lebanon

Israel's Security Cabinet voted Wednesday in favor of a landmark agreement with Lebanon to demarcate a maritime border between the two countries.

The vote was the first in several procedures needed before Israel's final approval of the U.S.-brokered deal.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid's office said in a statement that the Security Cabinet, which is made up of the government's senior ministers, unanimously voted in favor of endorsing the agreement with one minister abstaining, meaning the deal will be put to a vote by the entire government.

The vote on the draft deal came a day after both Lapid and Lebanese President Michel Aoun announced in two separate statements that the draft agreement met their countries' demands. Later on Tuesday, Lapid and U.S. President Joe Biden talked over the phone and hailed the deal as "historic."

Being the first diplomatic agreement between the two countries, which have been in a state of war since the founding of Israel in 1948, the maritime demarcation deal settles a longtime dispute over a region in the eastern Mediterranean, where gas fields are located.

The agreement set terms for the exploration and exploitation rights of the gas fields.

Under the agreement, Qana, a natural gas field partially located in a zone claimed by Israel, would be owned by Lebanon. Total, a French energy giant, will explore the gas field and compensate Israel by sharing some revenues with it.

Karish, an Israeli-developed natural gas field located some 90 km offshore of Israel, will stay inside the Israeli maritime boundaries.

The deal will come into effect once Israel and Lebanon send letters to the United Nations stating their agreement.

Production at the Karish rig and the exploration of Qana are expected to begin immediately after the agreement enters into force, the deal says.