President Michel Aoun on Wednesday described the sea border demarcation agreement with Israel as “a gift to the Lebanese people,” adding that it will “pull Lebanon out of the abyss.”
“The situation in Lebanon deteriorated a lot after the country fell into an abyss that wasn’t a coincidence, but rather as a result of actions and behavior that led it to the current situation,” Aoun said.

Israel's Security Cabinet on Wednesday voted in favor of the U.S.-brokered maritime border deal with Lebanon, the first of several procedural hurdles before the agreement is formally adopted.
The snap vote by Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid's senior ministers came a day after he announced that Israel agreed to the terms of the landmark deal between the two sides that have formally been in a state of war since 1948.

Parliament is due to convene on Thursday to elect a new President, two days after Lebanon reached a "satisfying" border agreement with Israel that could be signed before the end of President Michel Aoun's term of office on October 31.
The FPM said they would boycott the session on October 13, which marks the anniversary of Aoun's ouster at the end of the civil war in 1990 when the Syrian Army stormed the Baabda Palace, killing hundreds of Lebanese soldiers and civilians.

Several Lebanese TV networks on Wednesday published the final Arabic-language text of the sea border demarcation agreement submitted by U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein to Lebanon and Israel. Israel’s Haaretz newspaper has meanwhile published the English-language text of the deal.
Below is the full English-language text as published by Haaretz:

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea has thanked all Lebanese officials who contributed to reaching a tentative agreement with Israel over the demarcation of the maritime border, saying the deal “sets the stage for a more prosperous and stable Lebanon.”
In a video message, Shea expressed to all those involved Washington’s “profound gratitude, starting with President (Michel) Aoun and his team, Speaker (Nabih) Berri and his principal adviser, and Prime Minister(-designate Najib) Mikati.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has hailed, in a statement, the "historic breakthrough on the Israel-Lebanon maritime boundary."
"This breakthrough promises to usher in a new era of prosperity and stability in the Middle East and will provide vital energy to the people of the region and to the world," Blinken said.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday cautiously welcomed the Lebanese, Israeli and American declarations about an imminent sea border demarcation deal between Lebanon and Israel, noting that his group will maintain its military readiness until the final agreement is signed by the two sides.
“We are awaiting the declaration of the official stance by the president… We are awaiting the official stance of the enemy's government. What's important is what will happen tomorrow in the meeting of Israel's cabinet,” Nasrallah said in a televised address marking the Prophet’s Birthday.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday hailed a U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon to settle their maritime border dispute as "a historic breakthrough," and urged all parties to stick to the deal.
Negotiations between the neighboring countries, which are still technically at war, had suffered repeated setbacks since their launch in 2020 but gained momentum in recent weeks with both sides eyeing revenue from potentially rich Mediterranean gas fields.

The government formation efforts are not deadlocked and mediators are seeking a solution for the complications, al-Joumhouria newspaper quoted “credible political sources” as saying.
“General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim is carrying out contacts with some sides, while Hezbollah is seeking to ease the stance of Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil. Accordingly, things are not deadlocked until now and might lead to a breakthrough at any moment,” the sources added.

Israel's prime minister said Tuesday that Israel has reached a "historic agreement" with neighboring Lebanon over their shared maritime border after months of U.S.-brokered negotiations.
The agreement would mark a major breakthrough in relations with the two countries, which formally have been at war since Israel's establishment in 1948. But the deal still faces some obstacles, including key legal and political challenges in Israel.
