Israel declared a "security buffer zone" extending 10 kilometers into southern Lebanon and Mediterranean waters on April 19, days after a US-brokered ceasefire. The Yellow Line, announced by army spokesperson Avichay Adraee, absorbs roughly 6 percent of Lebanese territory and encompasses Blocks 8 and 9 of the Qana gas field — areas explicitly guaranteed to Lebanon under a 2022 maritime agreement mediated by US envoy Amos Hochstein.

Maritime lawyer Aref Fakhry calls the demarcation an "outright land grab" violating the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The zone intrudes into Lebanon's territorial waters and exclusive economic zone, where Beirut holds sovereign rights to resources. France's Total Energies, Italy's Eni, and Qatar Energy signed an exploration permit for Block 8 in January, though Lebanon has yet to prove commercially viable reserves across its ten offshore blocks.

Israeli politics remain split: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition seeks to cancel the 2022 deal, while opposition leader Yair Lapid dismisses the gas claims entirely. Energy Minister Eli Cohen labeled the agreement a "surrender." Lebanon's Energy Minister Joe Saddi insists the buffer map changes nothing legally. Beirut could invoke UN conventions, seek US mediation, or petition the Security Council under the Barcelona Convention.