Israel has asked its military to prepare for a possible “escalation of tensions” after rejecting Lebanon‘s request for changes to a draft agreement on a shared maritime border.
Pak Sahafat News Agency: American diplomat Amos Hochstein, who acts as a mediator in the negotiations between Israel and Lebanon on the maritime border of the two countries, presented a written proposal to Lebanon and Israel last week, the content of which has not been officially published.
The leaders of both countries had supported the proposal, but Lebanon on Tuesday presented its response to the proposal, which includes changes aimed at “clarifying the text and making it uninterpretable”.
A high-ranking Israeli official, who did not want to be named, told AFP: “Prime Minister Yair Lapid has been informed of the major changes Lebanon is seeking to make to the agreement and has asked his negotiating team to reject them.”
Also, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz ordered the country’s army to prepare for a scenario of escalation of tension in the north of the country.
According to the report of the correspondent of Iran International in Israel, following Gantz’s order, the air force, navy and ground forces under the northern command of the country are preparing for a scenario of possible escalation of tension against Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, has threatened that if an agreement is not reached and Israel starts producing gas in the Karish gas field, Hezbollah will attack this rig.
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A senior political official in Israel announced on Thursday that the possibility of signing an agreement on maritime borders with Lebanon before Israel’s elections is very slim, given the fundamental changes that Lebanon has requested to be included in the draft agreement.
Earlier, while the talks between Israel and Lebanon continued with the mediation of the United States regarding the determination of the blue border between the two countries, an Israeli military official warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah that if it carries out its threats to attack this country, it will face a harsh response from the Israeli army.
This Israeli military official, who did not want to be named, told Iran International in late September: “These days, Israel is continuing the talks to determine the blue border between this country and Lebanon, and the priority is a diplomatic solution and not a military one, but despite Hezbollah’s threats in this regard, there is no doubt that if this group tries to carry out its threats with a reaction.”
Before that, an Iran-made Hezbollah drone entered Israel’s airspace, which according to the Israeli army was targeted by the country’s anti-aircraft.
In 2020, Israel and Lebanon resumed negotiations to resolve border disputes with the mediation of the United States, but these negotiations have not yet reached a conclusion.
Karish gas field in the Mediterranean waters has been mentioned as one of the disputes.
By releasing satellite images, Israel has announced that the Karish gas field is several kilometers away from the disputed area between the two countries. However, Lebanon says that this square is also located in the disputed area.