Israeli security forces are on high alert near the northern border, fearing that the terrorist organization Hezbollah will try to carry out an attack to sabotage talks between Israel and Lebanon over a maritime border dispute, with the parties on the verge of reaching an agreement.
Israel and Lebanon have been involved for more than a year in occasional U. S. -brokered talks aimed at resolving a dispute over the rights to offshore fields believed to involve the wealth of herbal fuels.
Both countries claim some 860 square kilometres (330 sq mi) of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon also claims that Karish’s fuel box is located in disputed territory as part of ongoing maritime border negotiations, while Israel claims it is identified worldwide. economic waters.
Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based and Iranian-backed Shiite terror group, vehemently opposed any concessions in talks with Israel. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has threatened to attack Israeli offshore facilities.
In July, the IDF shot down 3 Hezbollah drones smuggled into a fuel platform in one of the disputed camps.
Israeli defense officials are concerned that Nasrallah will try to galvanize Israel once it returns in hopes of getting credits for any Israeli concessions before a deal is signed, the Twelfth Channel reported, citing a source. The report says the two sides are close to signing an agreement. covenant.
Amos Yadlin, the former head of Israel’s intelligence services, warned Sunday that Hezbollah is too confident in its provocations.
The terrorist organization risked exaggerating and triggering a confrontation with Israel, until the buildup prior to the last war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, he said.
An anonymous Lebanese official quoted by Russian media outlet Sputnik said Beirut is still waiting for Israel’s reaction to its new offer, but is confident a deal will be reached next month.
“We are close to reaching an agreement on the demarcation of the maritime border with Israel,” the unnamed Lebanese official was quoted as saying by Russia’s semi-official newspaper.
“The border demarcation factor will be resolved in September,” he said.
The U. S. envoy U. S. secretary of state for the deal, Amos Hochstein, said earlier this month he was “positive” about the deal, and Lebanon’s foreign minister, which expired last month, said he was more confident than ever about negotiations.
The dispute over the maritime border dates back more than a decade. In 2012, Lebanon rejected a U. S. proposal. to obtain 550 square kilometers (212 square miles), almost two-thirds of the domain, while Israel reportedly gained the remaining third. The disputed domain covers the Karish fuel box and the Qana box.
Lebanon and Israel last fought war in 2006, have no diplomatic relations and are separated across a UN-patrolled ceasefire line.
They resumed negotiations over their maritime border in 2020, but the procedure stalled due to Beirut’s claim that it was necessary to change the map used by the UN in the talks.
Lebanon is in dire need of an agreement on the maritime border in the Mediterranean as it hopes to exploit offshore fuel reserves in a bid to mitigate what has the worst economic crisis in its fashionable history.
Israel maintains its sovereignty over the Karish fuel box and seeks to expand the box as it tries to position itself as a supplier of herbal fuel to Europe.
In June, Israel, Egypt and the European Union signed a memorandum in Cairo whereby Israel will export its herbal fuel to the bloc for the first time.
TOI agencies and contributed to this report.
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