Lebanon Warns Israel Over Territorial Dispute - Israel Prepares For Hezbollah Attack On Karish Gas Rig

Lebanon warns Israel

RT

A battle over Mediterranean waters rich in natural gas deposits bubbled up on Sunday when Lebanese President Michel Aoun warned Israel that trying to tap the offshore riches without first resolving a territorial dispute would be seen as a “provocation.”

“Any action or activity in the disputed area represents a provocation and an aggressive action,” Aoun said on Sunday in a statement. He made his comments after a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel arrived in the disputed area, where London-based upstream firm Energean plans to start pumping gas from the Karish field under contract with the Israeli government later this year.

Aoun said he discussed the FPSO’s arrival with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and asked Lebanon’s Army Command to provide him “accurate and official data to build upon the matter.”

 Mikati called the situation “extremely dangerous,” saying Israel was trying to “create a new crisis, encroaching on Lebanon’s maritime wealth and imposing a fait accompli in a disputed area.”

Karish is located about 90km west of Haifa, close to the much larger gas fields of Leviathan and Tamar, and it holds reserves estimated at more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent. Energean signed a contract in March to sell output from Karish to Israel Electric Co., the largest Israeli gas buyer.

Jerusalem has claimed that Karish is located in Israel’s exclusive economic zone, as recognized by the United Nations, and isn’t subject to the country’s territorial dispute with Lebanon. Aoun said negotiations to resolve the issue are continuing, and both countries have filed disputes with the UN regarding their overlapping maritime claims.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group has threatened to take action if Israel extracts fossil fuels in the disputed area without resolving the territorial impasse.

Israel said preparing to defend new Karish gas rig from Hezbollah attack

TOI STAFF

The Israeli military is preparing for the possibility that the Hezbollah terror group will attempt to attack the new Karish gas rig off the country’s Mediterranean coast, Kan news reported Sunday.

The report said navy vessels would help secure the rig, including submarines. A naval version of the Iron Dome missile defense system will also arrive in the area to help protect the platform.

The new drilling platform arrived at the Karish site on Sunday and is expected to become operational in the next few months.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Sunday warned Israel against drilling at Karish, claiming it was a disputed site.

The Walla news site quote an unnamed senior Israeli Sunday night who slammed the Lebanese allegations as “lies,” adding that Beirut’s recent claims to the site “contradict the positions that Lebanon itself presented in the past.”

“Any action or activity in the disputed area represents a provocation and a hostile act,” the Aoun’s office said.

According to Reuters, Mikati accused Israel of “encroaching on Lebanon’s maritime wealth, and imposing a fait accompli in a disputed area.” He called the Israeli move “extremely dangerous.”