Lebanese President Michel Aoun announced on Sunday that ongoing negotiations with Israel over their disputed maritime border and drilling rights, mediated by American officials, have ended and that Lebanon is expecting to receive a final proposal in the coming hours. "Aoun received a phone call from the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, during which he briefed him on the latest results of the talks," the president's office said, according to Haaretz . The statement added that Hochstein "will send the final version of the proposal in the next few hours." The Lebanese government is preparing to review the proposal's final wording and make a final decision. Israel and Lebanon have been holding US-brokered discussions for the past year, with the aim of reaching an agreement on their maritime border. There have been major natural gas discoveries off the coasts of both countries during the last decade, and the border dispute has halted gas exploration in an area that has attracted the interest of US energy companies. The dispute escalated in June after Israel moved a production vessel near the Karish offshore field, angering Lebanon, which claims part of the field. While an agreement seemed within reach last week, tensions rose on Thursday after Lebanon demanded further changes to a draft agreement of a maritime border deal, which would formally delineate the boundaries of Israeli and Lebanese waters, including prized offshore gas fields. The US-brokered agreement being negotiated between Israel and Lebanon has been met with criticism by the opposition in Israel, particularly from opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who attacked the agreement at a press conference last week. "The time has come to say enough, enough of this dangerous government of weakness. This weakness has only become apparent now, when Lapid surrendered to Hezbollah's threats. His agreement of surrender is illegal, and we will not be bound by it," said the opposition chairman. Beyond the criticism of many members of the opposition, as well as that of Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, the former US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, also lambasted the agreement on Monday. “We spent years trying to broker a deal between Israel and Lebanon on the disputed maritime gas fields. Got very close with proposed splits of 55-60% for Lebanon and 45-40% for Israel. No one then imagined 100% to Lebanon and 0% to Israel. Would love to understand how we got here,” he tweeted. “I could be wrong, [but] I think Israel does get zero. My understanding is that Israel gets royalties only on drilling within its own sovereign territory — that’s beyond the scope of the maritime dispute with Lebanon. As to the disputed territory, I understand Lebanon gets it all,” he added. Related articles: Israeli vessel swept into Lebanese waters Gas rig arrives on Lebanese coast 'We have US guarantees on Israel maritime border deal' Lapid advisor-oil exec. brother pressured maritime border deal Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) expressed concern on Sunday over the emerging deal, saying he was “troubled” by the apparent pressure applied by the Biden administration on Israel to make concessions to Lebanon. “I am deeply troubled that Biden officials pressured our Israeli allies to hand over their territory to the Iran-controlled terrorist group Hezbollah,” Cruz tweeted. “Another topic for the next Republican Congress to investigate.” (Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Sukkot in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)