Report: Israeli Cabinet to meet over border demarcation, Hezbollah's threats

The Israeli cabinet is holding a meeting on Sunday to discuss the maritime border demarcating with Lebanon and Hezbollah's threats, an Israeli media report said.

On Sunday, U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein is scheduled to arrive in Lebanon with a response to Lebanon's demands. Lebanese and Israeli media reports have said that the solution to the border dispute is near and that Hochstein will present a framework for an agreement.

The response would be a compromise between Israel and Lebanon's demands, the reports said, yet Israeli General Amos Gilad has warned that Hezbollah's threats must be "taken seriously".

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had repeatedly warned Israel, after it had moved a gas production vessel into the Karish field, that it would not be able to extract gas from Karish without a sea border agreement with Lebanon.

Earlier this month, Hezbollah had sent unarmed drones over the Karish gas field "as a message" to Israel.

Lebanon says Karish is disputed territory under ongoing maritime border negotiations, whereas Israel claims it lies within its internationally recognized economic waters.

Negotiations between Lebanon and Israel to determine their maritime borders commenced in October 2020, when the two sides held indirect U.S.-mediated talks in southern Lebanon. Since taking over the mediation from late 2021, Hochstein has resorted to shuttle diplomacy with visits to both Beirut and Jerusalem.