"The maritime border agreement between Israel and Lebanon"

- CONTENT -
THE MARITIME BORDER AGREEMENT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON ESTABLISHED A HOTLINE OF THE EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC AREA AND A HEAT LINE OF TERRITORIAL WATER BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES, WITH REGARD TO THE FIVE-MILES (THE SPECTATORS) AGREED TO PRESERVE THEIR ACTUAL STATUS UNTIL THE SETTLEMENT OF THE LAND BORDER BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES. THE PARTIES CONCLUDED THAT THIS AGREEMENT ESTABLISHED A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE MARITIME CONFLICT BETWEEN THEM.

THE NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON BEGAN ON 14 OCTOBER 2020 TO ESTABLISH THE MARITIME BORDER BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES. TWO YEARS LATER, ON 27 OCTOBER 2022, THE TWO COUNTRIES PASSED THE SIGNED AGREEMENT TO A BROKERED BY HOCHSTEIN AND THUS THE AGREEMENT ENTERED INTO FORCE. SINCE THE 1983 ISRAEL-LEBANON AGREEMENT, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME ISRAEL AND LEBANON HAVE HELD NEGOTIATIONS AND SERVED AS AN AGREEMENT.

BACKGROUND
BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON, NO PEACE TREATY WAS SIGNED AND NO INTERNATIONAL BORDER WAS AGREED ON LAND. THE TEMPORARY BORDER LINE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON IS THE “BLUE LINE” SET IN THE UN IN 2000 FOR THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE IDF FROM LEBANON.

THE DISPUTE
BETWEEN LEBANON AND ISRAEL, THERE WAS A DISPUTE WHERE THE MARITIME BORDER WAS CROSSED BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES. EACH OF THE COUNTRIES SUED ECONOMIC EXCLUSIVES ON A TRIPLE BUFFER ZONE, 860 KM2, FOR WHICH ISRAEL CONSTITUTES LESS THAN 2% OF THE TOTAL AREA OF ITS ECONOMIC WATER, AND FOR THE LEBANESE APPROXIMATELY 3%. ALONGSIDE A MUTUAL SOVEREIGNTY CLAIM ON THE SURFACE ARE ECONOMIC RIGHTS – DEEP SEA PROGRAMMING FOR NATURAL GAS RESERVOIRS, WHICH EACH SIDE WILL COVER ITSELF.

THE 1982 SEA ACT DEFINES TERRITORIAL WATERS OF A COUNTRY ABOUT 22 MILES FROM ITS COASTLINE. THUS, THE ENTIRE SEA AREA THAT IS NORTH OF THE HEAD OF THE CEILING TO THE DISTANCE OF 22 KILOMETERS FROM THE COAST IS LEBANESE AND ALL THIS AREA SOUTH IS ISRAELI. AN EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC AREA IS DEFINED AS A TERRITORY IN WHICH THE STATE HAS THE RIGHTS OF NATURAL RESOURCES: GAS DRILLS AND OIL, ENERGY PRODUCTION AND MORE. THIS AREA EXTENDS TO 370 KM FROM THE COASTLINE OF EACH COUNTRY. THE DISPUTE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON IS A DEAL OF THE SIZE OF ITS VERTICAL MARKET, STRETCHING THE BORDER LINE FROM THE AGREED CONTINENTAL BORDER (AS AGREED, THE CURRENT STATUS OF THE LAND BORDER BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES, THE BLUE LINE, IS TEMPORARY) BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES WEST INTO THE SEA AND WILL MAINLY AFFECT THE ECONOMIC WATER AREA, ALTHOUGH ALSO THE TERRITORIAL WATERS OF THE TWO COUNTRIES.

IN 2003, ISRAEL SET THE FIRST 5 MILES OF THE BORDER IN THE SEA AND WAS DRAWN FROM THE SEA TO THE NEGLIGENCE. THE REASON FOR THE PLACING OF THE SPECTATORS (WITH A ROPE LINKING A "SEA SEPARATION FENCE" WHICH WAS GIVEN THE NAME "ANKANDA") WAS A PREVENTIVE PASSAGE OF LEBANESE FISHING BOATS THAT WANTED TO FISH IN ISRAEL (DAY NATURE RESERVE) WHILE THE AREA NORTH OF THE BORDER IS A SUB-MEANOROUS DESERT DUE TO OVERFISHING WITH EXPLOSIVES. LEBANON DID NOT RECOGNIZE THIS. THE REST OF THE LINE WAS NOT OFFICIALLY DEFINED.

IN 2007, LEBANON SIGNED A MARITIME AGREEMENT WITH CYPRUS DIVIDED INTO SIX POINTS. THE AGREEMENT ITSELF WAS NOT SUBMITTED TO THE UNITED NATIONS AND WAS NOT PUBLISHED IN ANY OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. POINT 1 IS THE SOUTHERNMOST POINT, AND IS WRITTEN IN THE AGREEMENT THAT POINT 1 IS SUBJECT TO CHANGES. THIS AGREEMENT WAS RATIFIED BY CYPRUS IN 2009, BUT NOT BY LEBANON. IN 2010, ISRAEL SIGNED A SIMILAR AGREEMENT WITH CYPRUS, WHERE THE MARITIME BORDER BETWEEN ISRAEL AND LEBANON BEGINS AT 1 POINT (BUT LEFT THE POSSIBILITY OF CHANGE). HENCE THE SOURCE OF THE POINT 1, THOUGH NO SPECIFIC METHOD IS USED TO DETERMINE IT. UNLIKE WRITTEN IN DIFFERENT SOURCES, IT IS NOT THE POINT THAT YOU HAVE HIT THE COASTLINE. LEBANON OBJECTED TO THIS AGREEMENT, FOLLOWED BY LEBANON’S ACCESS TO THE UN ITS VERSION OF THE MARITIME BORDER BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES, GIVING LEBANON ANOTHER 860 SQUARE KILOMETERS COMPARED TO THE ISRAELI VERSION OF THE BORDER. THE DIFFERENCES STEM FROM THE STATUS OF LEBANON THAT THE BORDER LINE SHOULD BE MARKED BY THE MARITIME LAW, RATHER THAN THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN LEBANON AND CYPRUS IN 2007. THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL APPROVED IN AUGUST 2011 THAT IT WOULD SUBMIT ITS PROPOSAL TO THE UN, AFTER THE DEPARTMENT OF THE OCEANS AND THE LAW OF HI