Channel 12 News reported on Saturday that Israeli military officials are in favor of halting talks with Lebanon over the maritime boundary dispute.
The non-source report said the Israel Defense Forces recommended halting talks following attempts by the Hezbollah terrorist group to launch drones in the Karish gas field, which sits in a maritime zone claimed by both Lebanon and Israel. Huh.
It said the government rejected the suggestion, as there appears to be some significant progress towards a deal with Lebanon.
The maritime boundary dispute between the two countries has been going on for many years. Negotiations on the issue have stalled repeatedly, despite US efforts to strike a deal, although US envoy for energy Amos Hochstein said last week that some progress had been made in recent talks.
Channel 12 said some additional progress could be made during US President Joe Biden’s visit to the region.
On Saturday, the IDF intercepted three Hezbollah drones headed for the Karish gas field. Hezbollah confirmed that it had launched the drone after threatening the area earlier. In another incident last Wednesday, a drone launched by the terrorist group was shot down in Lebanese waters.
After Saturday’s incident, parts of the drone were retrieved and taken away for investigation.
Footage published by the Army on July 2, 2022 shows an ocean-based Iron Dome air defense system on board a Navy ship guarding the Energean floating production, storage and offloading vessel at the Karish gas field. (Israel Defense Force)
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Thursday that the drones were Iranian.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened Israel after a new drilling platform arrived in the gas field a month ago, saying his organization was capable of stopping work there by force.
Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic relations and are technically at war. They claim to be within their exclusive economic zones of about 860 square kilometers (330 sq mi) of the Mediterranean Sea.
The US has unsuccessfully attempted to mediate between the two sides for more than a decade, with the last three administrations sending envoys to the region with the same task.
Both Israel and Lebanon have economic interests in the region, which has lucrative natural gas. Lebanon, which has been facing an economic crisis since late 2019, sees the resources offered as a possible road out of its current situation.
The talks saw a breakthrough in late 2020 after Lebanon called for control of an additional 1,430 square kilometers (552 sq mi) of maritime territory currently under Israeli control.
Tensions have risen in recent weeks around the dispute, when a gas-producing vessel arrived in Israel to launch an extraction operation in the Karish offshore field, drawing condemnation from Lebanon, which claimed parts of it. Israel says the region is part of its UN-recognized exclusive economic zone.
