“None of us have illusions that this is a peace agreement, or anything like that,” said Ariel Ezrahi, an expert on energy diplomacy in the Middle East.
Nevertheless, “we cannot underestimate the importance of this agreement, not just for Lebanon and Israel — but for the region as a whole, and further afield,” added Mr. Ezrahi, an analyst for the Atlantic Council, a U.S.-based research group. “It brings peace and calm in the eastern Mediterranean, which is also good news for Europe, as Europe seeks to diversify its energy supply,” Mr. Ezrahi said.
The deal settled a decades-old dispute about the location of the two countries’ exclusive economic zones in the eastern Mediterranean, demarcating where both countries have the sole right to extract resources.
Lebanon also recognized Israel’s existing control of a three-mile-wide stretch of water closest to their shared coast, while Israel allowed Lebanon the right to drill in a previously contested gas field that stretches between the Israeli and Lebanese economic zones, according to the senior Western official and the senior Israeli official.
In exchange, Israel will receive compensation for any gas taken from the section of the field, known as Qana, which is within the Israeli zone. And Lebanon has renounced any claims to a second gas field nearby, Karish, allowing Israel to proceed with the extraction of gas there without fear of reprisals from Hezbollah.
Hezbollah had threatened to disrupt Israeli efforts to drill at Karish, if Israel went ahead with the process before a deal was sealed. Earlier this year, the Israeli military shot down several drones that Hezbollah had sent as a warning toward a rig at Karish, leading to fears of a wider escalation if negotiations broke down.
Analysts said the deal offered security to Israel and a glimmer of long-term hope to Lebanon, which is gripped by a deep political and economic crisis that has caused huge energy shortages and led to rolling power outages.
