BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun confirmed on Thursday that the country has approved a maritime deal to resolve its dispute with the Zionist regime.
“I announce the approval by Lebanon of the final version prepared by the American mediator to delineate the southern maritime border,” the Lebanese president said in a televised speech.
Aoun described the deal as a “historic achievement,” and said Lebanon was “able to recover a disputed area of 860 square kilometers.”
“Lebanon did not concede a single square kilometer to Israel,” he said, adding that his country had seized full control over the Qana field.
“This indirect agreement responds to the Lebanese claims and fully preserves our rights,” Aoun said, stressing that “no normalization with Israel took place and no direct talks or agreements were held with it.”
Lebanon and the occupying regime both claim around 860 square kilometers of the Mediterranean Sea that are home to offshore gas fields.
The announcement came a day after the Zionist regime’s cabinet approved by majority the formula for the maritime agreement with Lebanon.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah, said on Tuesday that the movement will not recognize any maritime border deal between Lebanon and the regime until it is officially signed.
Nasrallah said “we will remain vigilant” until such a deal is finalized, noting a proper deal should meet the Lebanese government’s demands.
A senior Hezbollah lawmaker also said Lebanon’s firm position and the resistance movement’s efforts had helped the country safeguard its maritime rights in indirect talks with the Israeli regime and eventually forced the Zionist enemy to retreat.
Lebanon and the occupying regime carried out five sessions of indirect talks on the demarcation of maritime borders starting 2020, with the latest round held in May 2021. Since the negotiations kicked off, Hezbollah declared that extraction of gas from Karish without guarantees to Lebanon that it will be able to explore and extract its maritime resources is a red line.