The newspaper “The Times of Israel” on Saturday quoted Defense Minister Benny Gantz as threatening to respond “firmly” to any attack by Hezbollah, if there is no reach an agreement In negotiations for the demarcation of the maritime border with Lebanon.
“We will tear Lebanon apart if things develop into a large-scale conflict,” the Israeli defense minister added. “If Hezbollah makes this mistake and attacks Israel in any way, whether by land, sea or air, then Israel will defend itself firmly and attack firmly,” he said.
Gantz confirmed that Israel would move forward with plans to extract gas from the Karish field “even without an agreement” with Lebanon. He expressed his hope to sign the Qurayya agreement, but indicated that Israel does not agree to Lebanon’s “reservations” regarding the agreement. The Israeli defense minister said the matter was “now in Lebanon’s hands”.
Earlier today, the Lebanese “Al-Jadeed” channel reported that Lebanon had received Israel’s response to the American offer and to the remarks made by the Lebanese side regarding the negotiations to demarcate the maritime borders between the two countries.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Friday that his country was waiting for the outcome of US mediator Amos Hochstein’s contacts with Israel to determine the course of negotiations, after Tel Aviv announced its rejection of Lebanese amendments to the draft maritime border demarcation agreement.
On Friday, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted a security source as saying that Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s announcement of the army’s readiness in the north of the country carries a message to Lebanon that a military confrontation will erupt in the event that an agreement is not reached in the negotiations to demarcate the maritime borders between the two countries.
The source added that failure to reach an agreement in the negotiations could lead to a “deterioration of the situation,” while the broadcasting authority stated that the Israeli army “has completed its readiness for such a scenario.”
The commission had reported that Gantz directed the army to be “on alert” for fear of an exacerbation of the security situation in light of developments related to the demarcation of the maritime border with Lebanon.
Lebanon, for its part, said US-brokered talks to demarcate its maritime border with Israel reached a critical point Thursday after Israel rejected Beirut-requested amendments to the draft agreement, casting doubt on years of diplomatic efforts.