US envoy expected to arrive in Lebanon next week, bringing with him the framework for an agreement, according to Kan 11 News.
27.07.22, 4:12
Officials in Israel believe that the maritime dispute with Lebanon is on the brink of a solution, Kan 11 News reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, US envoy Amos Hochstein is expected to arrive in Lebanon next week, bringing with him the framework for an agreement, which will in fact be a compromise between the demands of Israel and those of Lebanon – the Karish gas rig will be included in the territory of Israel, and the same company will drill both in Israel and in Lebanon.
Last month, the Lebanese government objected to the arrival of a vessel operated by London-based Energean off the Mediterranean coast to develop the Karish field.
Israel has said Karish is part of its exclusive economic zone, but Lebanon argues the field is in contested waters and should not be developed until the two countries conclude their indirect talks to delineate their maritime borders.
In 2021, official discussions commenced between representatives of Israel and Lebanon, with the aim of reaching an agreement on their maritime border.
There have been major natural gas discoveries off the coasts of both countries during the last decade, and the border dispute has halted gas exploration in an area that has attracted the interest of US energy companies.
The talks were initiated after Lebanon signed its first contract to drill for oil and gas off its coast with a consortium comprising energy giants Total, ENI and Novatek, including in a block disputed by Israel.
Israel says one of two blocks in the eastern Mediterranean where Lebanon wants to drill for oil belongs to it, and had denounced any exploration by Beirut as “provocative”.
The talks fizzled out last year after Lebanon pushed its claim in the disputed zone from a boundary known as “Line 23” further south to “Line 29,” adding around 1,400 square km (540 square miles) to its claim, including part of Karish.
Tuesday’s report comes a day after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened Israel over the maritime border dispute, saying that not only the Karish gas rig is under threat but all of Israel’s gas fields in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Kan 11 report said that Nasrallah’s statements are seen in Israel as an attempt to present the latest developments as being a result of his statements and actions.
At the same time, an Israeli official said that an attack by Hezbollah on the Karish rig will be met with a military response by Israel.The report also said that the defense establishment has raised the alert level around the rig and will reinforce the area with Navy vessels and Air Force aircraft.Defense Minister Benny Gantz is expected to respond to Nasrallah’s latest threats on Wednesday.
Content retrieved from: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/357169.