Israel offers no reply to Lebanon maritime border proposal days after delivery

ByNews Desk- The Cradle 

Tensions between Lebanon and Israel have been at a standstill after Tel Aviv deployed two oil drilling ships to a disputed gas field

A ship operated by the London-based Energean company brings a new drilling platform in a disputed maritime region with Lebanon. (Photo credit: Twitter)

Israel has remained quiet over a proposal from Lebanon in relation to the demarcation of the maritime borders between the two countries and a dispute over control of a natural gas field.

US mediator Amos Hochstein spoke with an Israeli negotiating team on 24 June to discuss Beirut’s proposal via video conference call, according to Hebrew media.

However, since then, Tel Aviv has refrained from making any comments on the proposal, despite already having deployed two ships to the disputed field – one for drilling and the other for extracting gas.

The only word from officials was a statement released on 25 June that confirmed the talks with Hochstein and said that “the parties discussed formulating constructive directions for moving forward with negotiations.”

The ministry added it would “preserve Israel’s economic and security interests” but intends to “resolve the issue in the near future.”

After meeting with Lebanese leaders in mid-June, Hochstein told Lebanese citizens that they should consider accepting “creative compromises” to resolve the dispute over the Karish gas field.

This came after Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi threatened Lebanon with war over the maritime dispute, telling Lebanese citizens to “evacuate immediately” as Israel was ready to destroy “thousands of targets” across the country.

“I say from here, to the citizens of Lebanon … not only do I recommend you leave from when the war begins, I recommend you leave … before the first shot is fired because the power of our attacks will be something you have never seen,” Kochavi said on 12 June.

For his part, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah threatened to attack any Israeli or foreign drill ships in the disputed maritime territory if they violate Lebanon’s sovereignty over its natural resources.

“The immediate goal should be to prevent the enemy from extracting oil and gas from Karish,” Nasrallah said.

The current importance of these natural resources has been heightened by the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war that has led to an unprecedented energy crisis in the west.