Lebanon’s interim prime minister criticized the Hezbollah terror group on Monday for sending three drones to an Israeli gas installation last week, saying it was an unnecessarily risky move.
Najib Mikati’s comments came two days after Hezbollah launched three drones targeting the Karish gas field in the Mediterranean.
Israel’s military said on Saturday it had shot down the three drones, after which Hezbollah issued a statement saying they were not armed and had been sent on a reconnaissance mission. “The mission was accomplished and the message was received,” Hezbollah said.
Energean Israel, the company that currently operates the Karish gas field, said the gas platform was safe and that its current operations had not been disrupted by the incident.
Lebanon claims the Karish gas field is disputed territory in ongoing maritime border negotiations, while Israel claims it is in its internationally recognized economic waters.
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“Lebanon believes that any actions outside the state and diplomatic context while negotiations are underway are unacceptable and expose it to unnecessary risks,” Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib said, citing Mikati’s statement.
An Israeli navy ship patrols in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern Lebanese city of Nakura, June 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File)
Israel and Hezbollah are arch-enemies who fought a month-long war in the summer of 2006. Israel considers the group its most serious immediate threat, estimating that it has about 150,000 missiles and rockets aimed at Israeli cities.
The incident at the Karish gas field came soon after US mediator Amos Hochstein visited Lebanese and Israeli officials as talks progressed.
U.S. Energy Envoy Amos Hochstein, left, laughs as he meets with outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Mikati told reporters on Saturday that Lebanon had received “encouraging information” on the border dispute, but declined to comment until it received a “written official response to the proposals from the Lebanese side.”
Negotiations between Lebanon and Israel to determine their maritime borders began in October 2020, when the two countries held indirect US-brokered talks in southern Lebanon. Since taking over the mediation in late 2021, Hochstein has resorted to shuttle diplomacy with visits to both Beirut and Jerusalem.
The two countries, which have been officially at war since Israel’s creation in 1948, both claim about 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon is hoping to tap offshore gas reserves as it battles the worst economic crisis in its modern history.
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