Lebanon Warns Against Any Israeli Aggression

Lebanon issued a warning to Israel against any aggressive action in disputed waters after a ship arrived off the coast to develop gas for Israel.

Lebanon President Michel Aoun issued a stern warning that any activity in the disputed area would amount to an act of aggression and would be countered effectively. As per reports, London-based Energean sent a gas stroke and production ship in the disputed waters.

The Lebanese president discussed the situation with Prime minister Najib Mikati. Furthermore, the army was asked to provide more details to get a better view of the situation.

Aoun conveyed those negotiations are going on to delineate this area and any activity during talks would amount to an act of provocation.

Mikati called the incident, an act of encroachment on Lebanon’s maritime wealth. He also suggested that it is an extremely dangerous precedent.

Israelis have responded by saying that the territory in question does not lie in disputed waters rather it is a part of our exclusive economic zone.

Israeli Energy minister Karine Elharrar welcomed the vessel’s arrival and hoped for quick progress. She justified the Israeli action as an effort to diversify their energy market.

Emerge conveyed that its floating production storage and the offloading vessel arrived at the Karish field which is almost 80km west of the city of Haifa, which lies in Isreal’s exclusive economic zone.

Disputes between Israel and Lebanon go back many years. The United States began meditating between these two states to settle the dispute which has stopped both countries from energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. Hezbollah exercises great influence in Lebanon and they have fought many wars with Israel in the past.

There has been a warning from Hezbollah against Israel on the issue of drilling for oil and gas in the disputed area until the matter is resolved. Otherwise, the group would take the necessary action, warned the Hezbollah group.

Both sides have put forward their claims regarding the maritime border in the United Nations but there has been no end to this dispute.

What is the dispute?

The area of the Eastern Mediterranean around the coast of Israel and Lebanon almost makes 860 Square kilometers and it has vast reserves of oil and gas. It is also known as the Levantine Basin. This area overlaps the territorial waters of Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Cyprus also.

However, Cyprus and Israel are already drilling in their areas whereas Lebanon doesn’t have reserves but recently it has started looking for reserves more thoroughly.

However, the situation becomes tricky because Lebanon doesn’t recognize Israel as a state and has been at war with Israel since its formation. It has created a tough situation for other oil exploration in this area.

In 2010, Lebanon proposed that its exclusive economic zone extends to 131 km into the Mediterranean and submitted this proposal to the United Nations.

On the other hand, the following year Israel also submitted its proposed exclusive economic zone and it suggested that it will extend 16 km inside the Lebanese zone creating 860 Square km of disputed waters.

Since then, tensions have been high between both countries. The Lebanese side has also increased its claim by 1430 Square km.

The issue has become overtly political and the Hezbollah party has influenced the talks and prevented the negotiations from happening.

What lies ahead?

The normalization of relationships between Israel and several Arab countries has brought hope for the future. This was also something that looked impossible a few years back. But it is only a precedent and it doesn’t ensure anything between Lebanon and Israel relations.

It is high time that both countries come forward to resolve this conflict once and for all. Resources of disputed territory can bring a lot of money to both countries and in the aftermath of covid, it would bring the necessary capital to revive the economy and help the population.

At last, World powers and regional players should come forward to resolve this issue as it has elements that can disturb world peace.

Edited By: Aaradhana Singh

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