“Israeli” Media Talks of a Close Deal with Lebanon: Nasrallah Is Serious

Translated By Al-Ahed News

Lebanon and Tel Aviv are reportedly close to a deal over their disputed maritime border. Forecasts by “Israeli” Maariv newspaper suggest that an agreement over the demarcation of the maritime border could be clinched next month based on the current progress in negotiations.

The daily claims that US envoy Amos Hochstein will arrive in the region in the coming days for another round of talks between Tel Aviv and Beirut.

The newspaper also touched on recent warnings from Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

In this context, Maariv noted that the “Israeli” security establishment takes Sayyed Nasrallah’s threats very seriously and believes that he “placed himself into a corner from which it is difficult to get out of.”

The threats prompted the "Israeli" entity to heighten security around the natural gas platforms it is occupying.

Political sources said that with or without an agreement, "Israel" is preparing to start extracting gas between September and October. It all comes down to the readiness of “Israeli” energy giant Energean and there are no other considerations.

In a separate article on this issue, Yedioth Ahronoth’s Yossi Yehoshua said that “Israel” has been shaken by Sayyed Nasrallah’s recent speeches.

In his view, even if Sayyed Nasrallah was planning for "only one day" of battles and even if “Israel” was not concerned with the war, the problem for both sides is their firepower.

“The scope of targeted areas will be far more extensive than what the public has become accustomed to in operations in Gaza over the last decade.”

Yehoshua noted that it will be difficult for "Israel" to control the intensity of the flames and the manner in which the other side will respond. Even if the conflict is sparked by a localized incident, it may quickly deteriorate into days of fighting, and from here to an actual war that the two sides do not want.

The analyst added that the big challenge now is when and how this deterioration stops. Therefore, the basis for discussions in the security establishment is now related to preparing responses for every incident and scenario that could happen.

"Of course, it cannot be ruled out that if actual information arrives about planned activities by Hezbollah, they will decide to thwart it at a specified time," Yehoshua said.

The “Israeli” analyst claimed that the so-called “Breaking Dawn Op” in Gaza ended two weeks ago with great success, but it was an operation against one enemy.

“The situation is completely different when confronting Hezbollah. The organization has armed itself well since the Second Lebanon War about 15 years ago and created a balance of power that threatens ‘Israel’.”

Therefore, Yehoshua argued that "in this round, if it takes place, the ‘Israeli’ army will be forced to respond with a force that strengthens the deterrence that has been crushed against Hezbollah, and thus avoids the next confrontation."

Furthermore, he pointed out that the focus of attention is currently the beginning of September, when American negotiator Amos Hochstein is expected to arrive in the region. He is also expected to have a final proposal in his pocket.

"All this, of course, if Sayyed Nasrallah does not pull a surprise in the meantime," he added.

For its part, Maariv newspaper noted that at the beginning of September, three years ago, Hezbollah fired an anti-armor missile at an “Israeli” army vehicle in response to “Israeli” military activity in Lebanon.

The newspaper concluded by saying, "But in order to better understand how much ‘Israel’ expects war, it is better to follow up on the replacement of the commander of the northern region, Amir Baram, which is planned for September 11."

"From past experiences, when the army assesses that there will be an escalation of the situation in the northern arena, they postpone the date of the change of command. This happened, for example, before the attack on the reactor in Syria in 2007, as the replacement was postponed. Therefore, it will be possible to understand the extent of the likelihood of a confrontation, according to the ‘Israeli’ army."