Lebanon has received a final draft of a U.S.-mediated maritime border deal with Israel that satisfies all of Lebanon's requirements and could imminently lead to a "historic deal," Lebanese lead negotiator Elias Bou Saab told Reuters.
"If everything goes well, Amos Hochstein's efforts could imminently lead to a historic deal," Bou Saab said minutes after receiving the draft from Hochstein, the U.S. official engaged in months of shuttle diplomacy to try to end the dispute.
While limited in scope, an agreement would ease security and economic concerns in both countries, whose shared history is rife with conflict.
The deal would resolve a territorial dispute in the eastern tip of the Mediterranean sea in an area where Lebanon aims to explore for natural gas, and near waters where Israel has already found commercially viable quantities of hydrocarbons.
