JERUSALEM — Israel is to submit a claim to the United Nations in the next few days demarcating its maritime boundary with Lebanon, officials here said Sunday, amid a dispute between the countries over an area of the Mediterranean Sea that is potentially rich with energy resources.

The Israeli cabinet approved a map of the Israeli-proposed line on Sunday. “This boundary will delineate the area in which the state enjoys exclusive economic rights, including the right to exploit the sea’s natural resources,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet. “Our goal,” he said, “is to determine Israel’s position regarding its maritime border, in keeping with the principles of international maritime law.”

Israel’s line stakes out more territory for itself than one that Lebanon drew and submitted to the United Nations a few months ago. Mr. Netanyahu said that the boundary drawn by the Lebanese conflicted with the line that Israel had agreed upon with Cyprus and, more significantly, with the line that Lebanon itself had agreed upon with Cyprus in 2007.

Since Israel recently confirmed the existence of a major natural gas field off its northern coast, drawing a maritime boundary with Lebanon has become a matter of some urgency.