Lapid: Signing a maritime border demarcation agreement with Lebanon next Thursday

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said today, Monday, that his country will sign the maritime border demarcation agreement with Lebanon next Thursday, explaining that the agreement will make Israel a major supplier of gas to Europe in the near future.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid announced Monday that Israel will sign Thursday a historic agreement demarcating the maritime border with Lebanon.

Lapid said at the start of his meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Tel Aviv, according to a statement by his office: "On Thursday, we will sign a historic agreement with Lebanon, and in the near future Israel will become a major supplier of gas to Europe."

The two countries, which are still officially at war, after intense negotiations under US auspices, reached an agreement to demarcate their maritime borders and remove major obstacles to the exploitation of gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean.

"We have to work together to find medium and long-term solutions for green energy and renewable energy," Lapid added during his meeting with Rutte, which dealt with energy cooperation between Israel and Europe.

The agreement stipulates that the offshore Karish field will be under Israeli control and that the Qana field will be given to Lebanon, but since part of the latter field is beyond the future demarcation line, Israel will receive a share of future revenues from its exploitation.

The Israeli Supreme Court's decision on Sunday paved the way for the government's approval of the demarcation agreement, after it rejected opposition appeals.

The appellants were of the view that such a deal and the assignment of space during an election period should not be concluded.

On November 1, the Israelis head to the polls in the fifth legislative elections in less than five years