On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid rejected Lebanese comments on the draft maritime border agreement between the two countries.
A senior Israeli political source said in a statement that “Prime Minister Lapid rejects Lebanon’s comments on the text of the agreement.”
The source added: “Israel received Lebanon’s comments on the draft agreement (..) and the Prime Minister was informed of the details of the new tangible amendments that Lebanon wanted to introduce to the agreement and instructed the negotiating team to reject them.”
He continued, “Lapid made it clear that Israel will not compromise its security and economic interests in any way, even if this means that no agreement will be reached soon.”
He pointed out that “Israel will extract gas from the Karish platform when it is possible (…) if Hezbollah or any other party tries to strike the Karish platform or threaten us, the negotiations on the maritime line will stop immediately, and then Hassan Nasrallah (Hezbollah Secretary General) will have to To explain to the citizens of Lebanon why they do not have a gas platform and have no economic future.
The Israeli political circles had warned, hours before the Israeli mini-ministerial council for security and political affairs, “the Cabinet”, convened Thursday to discuss approving the agreement, of a change in the text presented by the United States of America to Israel and Lebanon.
Mikati: Demarcation of the maritime border with Israel is nearing completion
On the Lebanese side, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced that the demarcation of his country’s maritime borders with Israel is on the verge of completion, considering that by doing so, “we will avoid a definite war in the region.”
He added, “I am personally pleased for two things, namely that we are avoiding a definite war in the region, and secondly and most importantly, that when we are united and our decision is one, we can reach what we all want.”
Two years ago, indirect negotiations were launched between Beirut and Tel Aviv, with American mediation and UN sponsorship, to resolve a dispute over a region in the Mediterranean that is rich in oil and natural gas.
According to a proposal submitted by Washington to Beirut through the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, the potential agreement guarantees Lebanon the entire disputed area, which has an area of about 860 square kilometers, according to statements by Lebanese officials.
TRT Arabic – Agencies