Israel has rejected Lebanon's requested amendments to a U.S.-brokered border demarcation proposal, casting doubt on years of diplomatic efforts to allow the two countries to extract gas from the disputed Mediterranean area, Reuters reports.

The draft deal, which has not been made public, was tentatively warmly welcomed by the Israeli and Lebanese governments. But amid internal opposition in both countries, Lebanon asked the U.S. representative for a few amendments.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid was informed of the details of the significant changes Lebanon seeks to make to the agreement and instructed the negotiating team to reject them, an Israeli official said.

According to Israeli media reports, the main stumbling block was recognition of the line of demarcation buoys that Israel has placed in the sea from its coast. Lebanon is concerned about any action that might mean formal recognition of the common land border.

Beirut also rejected Lapid's claim that Israel would receive partial royalties for Lebanese extraction on the Qana site.

A Lebanese official said his government is awaiting official notification of Israel's new position