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Aoun says signing the maritime border deal is 'technical work' and has 'no political dimensions'

Aoun says signing the maritime border deal is 'technical work' and has 'no political dimensions'

President Michel Aoun signs the final maritime border deal with Israel on Oct. 27, 2022. (Credit: Lebanese presidency/Twitter)

BEIRUT — Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Thursday that finalizing the maritime border agreement with Israel is "technical work" that bears "no political dimensions" that would contradict Lebanon’s foreign policy, as Lebanon and Israel signed the final agreement today after a monthslong mediation led by the American envoy Amos Hochstein.

Due to the maritime border deal, Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday claimed Israel's foe Lebanon de facto "recognizes" Israel. The two nations have formally been at war since Israel’s creation in 1948.

"This is a political achievement — it is not every day that an enemy state recognizes the State of Israel, in a written agreement, in front of the entire international community," Lapid said, hours ahead of the expected signing by the two parties of separate copies of the deal in Lebanon.

However, Aoun assured that "completing the file of demarcating the southern maritime borders is a technical work that has no political dimensions or effects that contradict Lebanon’s foreign policy in its relations with other countries."

On Thursday afternoon, another annex of the document will be signed by both sides, separately. This will take place at the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Naqoura, South Lebanon.

A complicated protocol was set in place to ensure that the signing of the document, which was the product of long-winded negotiations, is not seen as paving the way for peace between the two neighbors.

BEIRUT — Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Thursday that finalizing the maritime border agreement with Israel is "technical work" that bears "no political dimensions" that would contradict Lebanon’s foreign policy, as Lebanon and Israel signed the final agreement today after a monthslong mediation led by the American envoy Amos Hochstein.Due to the maritime border deal, Prime Minister...