Israeli minister says seeking Lebanon deal that will protect Israel's assets
Israeli Energy Minister Karen Elharrar held talks Thursday with visiting U.S. energy mediator Amos Hochstein, in the presence of the head of the Israeli delegation to the indirect negotiations with Lebanon.
“I will continue to work to create an agreement that will protect Israel's strategic and security assets,” Elharrar tweeted after her meeting with Hochstein.
Hochstein for his part said that some of the gaps have been reduced and that good progress has been made in both Lebanon and Israel.
"We have reduced some of the gaps, we had good talks. After I return from Saudi Arabia we will continue discussions. There should be a mutual agreement between Israel and Lebanon, and the role of the U.S. is to help reach an agreement that will serve the interests of the two countries. We estimate that we have made good progress in both Lebanon and Israel," Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Hochstein as saying.
Yedioth Ahronoth added that Hochstein “did not convey any significant message from the Lebanese side” to Elharrar.
Hochstein is accompanying U.S. President Joe Biden in his ongoing visit to Israel and the region.
The meeting with Elharrar comes a day after Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah threatened Israel with military escalation if a future deal over the disputed maritime border is not in Lebanon's favor.
Narallah said in a televised speech that Lebanon should be able to extract oil and gas in Lebanese waters. He warned that sending unarmed drones over the Karish gas field in the Mediterranean earlier this month was "a modest beginning to where the situation could be heading."
"The message of the drones meant that we are serious and we are not after a psychological war but we are gradually moving in our steps," Nasrallah said, adding that Lebanese officials should take advantage of his group's strength to use it in indirect talks.
Nasrallah added that "whatever we are supposed to do, we will without any hesitation. This message was understood by the Israelis and by the Americans."
The incident in the Karish gas field took place soon after Hochstein visited Lebanon and held video talks with Israeli officials and amid reported progress in the negotiations.
Lebanon claims the Karish gas field is disputed territory under ongoing maritime border negotiations, whereas Israel says 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.
Nasrallah said it was the first time that Hezbollah sent three drones at the same time adding that when the Israeli forces opened fire near Karish it was a message to engineers at the facility that this is not a safe area.
"If we go to war, we might impose our conditions on the enemy," Nasrallah said, adding that if the Americans "don't give us our rights that are demanded by the state and if you don't allow companies to extract (oil) God knows what we will do. We will turn over the table in the face of the world."
Israel and Lebanon, which have been officially at war since Israel's creation in 1948, both claim some 860 square kilometers of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon hopes to exploit offshore gas reserves as it grapples with the worst economic crisis in its modern history.
Source: Naharnet
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