Beirut - (AFP) - Lebanese President Michel Aoun announced today, Thursday, his country's approval of the maritime border demarcation agreement with Israel, after intense negotiations led by Washington, in a move he described as a "historic achievement", which would remove obstacles to investment. its natural resources.

In a speech addressed to the Lebanese, Aoun said, "After consulting with the Speaker of Parliament and the Prime Minister and in my capacity as head of state, and after I was informed by US President Joe Biden of Israel's approval, and after the Israeli government announced its approval, I announce Lebanon's position to agree to adopting the final formula prepared by the American mediator to demarcate the borders." Southern Navy" with Israel.

Aoun considered, "Lebanon has the right to consider what has been achieved a historic achievement, because we were able to recover an area of 860 square kilometers that was the subject of a dispute, and Lebanon did not concede any one kilometer to Israel. We also obtained the entire Qana field without any compensation paid by us, although of not having the whole field in our waters."

Aoun stressed that "the indirect agreement responds to the Lebanese demands and fully preserves our rights," stressing that Lebanon "has not made any substantial concessions and has not entered into any kind of rejected normalization" with Israel .

Since the beginning of June, developments related to the file have accelerated after a pause for months due to disputes over the size of the disputed area. After meetings and shuttle contacts between the two parties, the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, made his last offer at the beginning of the week.

Aoun's announcement came a day after the Israeli government ratified the agreement, the day after its president, Lapid Yair, described the agreement as "historic."

Lapid said on Wednesday, after his government approved the agreement, that it "excludes the possibility of armed confrontations with Hezbollah," the sworn enemy of Israel, which in recent weeks had threatened a military escalation and warned Israel against undertaking any activity in the disputed area, before come to an agreement.

The Lebanese authorities are counting on the presence of natural resources that will help the country overcome the catastrophic repercussions of the economic collapse that the country has been witnessing for three years, and the World Bank ranked it among the worst in the world since 1850. More than 80 percent of the Lebanese are now below the poverty line, The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90 percent of its value against the dollar.

Aoun hoped that "the end of these negotiations will be a promising beginning that lays the foundation stone for an economic revival that Lebanon needs by completing oil and gas exploration, which will achieve stability, security and development that our country, Lebanon, needs."

According to the text of the agreement, a copy of which was seen by Agence France-Presse, the agreement will enter into force when the United States sends "a notification containing confirmation of the agreement of both parties to the provisions stipulated in the agreement."

Each party must submit a letter containing a list of geographical coordinates related to the demarcation of the maritime line to the United Nations, to replace those sent by the two countries in 2011.