⋯ A Lebanese and Israeli delegation is expected to gather at the UN base in the border village of Naqoura to sign the deal, officially ending the maritime dispute.

⋯ Israeli media reports that the head of the National Security Council, Eyal Hulta, and the Director General of the Ministry of Energy, Lior Shilat, will cross into Lebanon to sign the papers.

There will be no official signing ceremony.

⋯ The sense of urgency displayed by both parties is intended to finalize the maritime dispute as soon as possible, as both Lebanon and Israel are in the midst of an election season that could hinder all progress made.

Initial: Syrian air defense are engaging foreign targets.

Syrian TV: The explosions that were heard in the sky of Damascus and its countryside were caused by an Israeli aggression.

They attacked the same airport from last time's aggression.

The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a letter from Syria announcing their refusal to receive the Lebanese delegation to demarcate the borders due to prior engagements.

Maj. Gen. Amir Baram has been named as next Israeli army deputy chief of staff.

Baram is one of IDF's best officers with decades of experience and extensive knowledge about Lebanon and Hezbullah.

He will play an instrumental rule in IDF's doctrine regarding Lebanon.

Overnight, the israeli army attacked Nablus in the
West Bank from air and ground, murdering 5 and injuring 20 others.

The first picture of the solar eclipse from Beirut.

By: Mohamed Abdel Karim

⋯ From Anqoun, South Lebanon.

The Secretary General of Hezbullah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, will speak shortly during the opening ceremony of the "Ardi" (My Land) exhibition organized by Hezbollah at 4:00pm.

Today was signed the US-brokered maritime border deal

The Lebanese delegation initially refused to enter the UNIFIL headquarters in Ras Al-Naqoura to sign the maritime border agreement, after a breach of Israeli boats in Lebanese territorial waters. The enemy boats withdrew.

⋯ Hours prior, Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Israeli PM Yair Lapid signed the deal in their respective offices.

Lapid said that the agreement “strengthens and fortifies Israel's security and our freedom to act against Hezbollah and threats from the north”.

⋯ In a broadcast to his cabinet, Lapid attempted to frame the deal as Lebanon's recognition of Israel. However, Aoun later said the deal was purely "technical" and would have "no political dimensions or impacts that contradict Lebanon's foreign policy".

⋯ Lebanon's new border (Line ⁠23) is a better result than the 2012 US-proposed Hof Line (Line ⁠H)

US diplomat Frederic Hof mediated the border dispute from 2011 to 2012, during Mikati’s 2012 government. He offered Lebanon 55% of the “disputed zone” (zone from Lines ⁠1 to 23), essentially putting the Qana and Karish gasfields in Israeli territory.

When negotiations restarted in June 2020, President Aoun supported claiming Line ⁠29 (after studies were done by the Lebanese army, endorsed by the UK Hydrographic Office), but he never ratified it, due to US pressure.

Ten years passed and Lebanon (under the same PM Mikati) has obtained a better result.

⋯ Hezbullah's Secretary-General Sayyed Nasrallah considers the negotiation “from the beginning until the end is a great victory to Lebanon's state, people, and resistance”. Lebanese officials “never did any suspicious step that might indirectly imply normalization”.

⋯ US President Joe biden congratulates Lebanon and Israel on their signing of the maritime border deal.

Hezbullah's SG Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will deliver a speech at 8:30pm on Saturday, 29/10/22, to discuss some of the details regarding the maritime demarcation agreement.

A debriefing of the demarcation negotiations

On a talkshow last night, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Elias Bou Saab went into details concerning the maritime demarcation negotiations and the stances the Lebanese delegation took throughout.

⋯ He revealed Amos Hochstein's proposal during the 2nd stage of negotiations, and how the mediator told the Lebanese delegation that "we can't give you 100% (of Line 23), we have to give the Israeli side something as well".

His proposal (picture) was rejected outright.