U.S. President Joe Biden has called the agreement between Israel and Lebanon on the common maritime border «historic» and explained that it took «a lot of guts» for the parties to reach it.
«I think it’s a historic breakthrough: it took a lot of courage on their part to step forward and it took a lot of guts. I think it took principles and persistent diplomacy to achieve it,» Biden lauded during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who is in the United States.
All eyes will be on the Lebanese border town of Naqura on Thursday, where the parties will hold the signing ceremony of the agreement under the auspices of U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein, who will also be present, as confirmed by Washington.
Both Israel and Lebanon agreed to recognize Israel’s buoyed border, allowing Beirut to enjoy the exploitation of the area north of Line 23, including the Qana camp, while Israeli authorities maintain control over Karish amid threats from the Lebanese Shiite militia-party Hezbollah.
Apart from the pact on the common maritime border between Lebanon and Israel, Herzog used the meeting with Biden to denounce Iran’s role in the war in Ukraine for providing weapons to Moscow that are «killing innocent people in Ukraine,» as reported by the i24news television channel.
The Israeli president also denounced the violence that has occurred in Iran in recent weeks following the death of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for wearing the veil incorrectly, which has sparked demonstrations in different parts of the country, with hundreds of deaths.
«This is an example of Iran crushing its own citizens while moving towards nuclear weapons and supplying lethal weapons that are killing innocent citizens in Ukraine. The Iranian challenge will be a great challenge to be discussed,» he stressed.
Herzog began a two-day visit to the United States on Tuesday and met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and the deal’s mediator, Amos Hochstein.
