Sheikh Naim Qassem, Deputy Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah, said that the party is ready to take measures, including the use of force, against Israeli gas exploration operations in the border areas, if the government declares that these operations violate Lebanon's rights.
Qassem said - in an interview with Reuters news agency in his office in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday - that "when the Lebanese state says that the Israelis are assaulting our waters and our oil, we are ready to do our part in pressure and deterrence and using appropriate means, including force."
The Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah added, "The issue now requires a decisive decision and opinion from the Lebanese state. Does this ship operate in a disputed area or not? Has the Lebanese state decided the issue of borders and the negotiation line or not?"
Qassem called on the Lebanese state to show "more heat and pressure" on the issue of demarcating the maritime borders, adding, "If there is a blockage in the negotiations, let them announce that the negotiations have been blocked or ended, but that we keep begging the Americans and wait for them to grant us one or two visits and submit." Suggestions that are unrealistic and inconsistent with Lebanon's rights, this is a waste of time."
These statements come after the arrival of a ship operated by Energean to extract natural gas for Tel Aviv from a field that Israel calls Karish and claims that it is part of the exclusive economic zone, and not in a disputed area with Lebanon.
Israeli preparedness
The Israel Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Navy is preparing for the possibility of an attack on the gas platform, and will move a naval version of the Iron Dome missile defense system to the area.
The authority added that the Israeli Navy will secure the floating platform by means of naval vessels above and below the sea, including submarines, and that it will be ready to respond.
For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz confirmed - in a speech to the Knesset today - that the gas platform arrived last Saturday in the Israeli economic zone and not in a disputed area.
Gantz said that the dispute between Israel and Lebanon over the disputed areas in the Mediterranean will be settled through the ongoing negotiations mediated by the United States, which are indirect talks.
Earlier in the day, the office of the Lebanese caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said that President Michel Aoun had agreed to invite US envoy Amos Hochstein to Beirut to continue negotiations on the demarcation of the southern maritime border with Israel.
The Prime Minister's Office said that it was decided to hold contacts with major countries and the United Nations to confirm Lebanon's adherence to its marine wealth, and to consider any actions by Israel in the disputed region as an aggressive provocation that threatens international peace and security and obstructs negotiations.
Lebanon had issued a decree by which it expanded its exclusive economic zone to become the disputed area with Tel Aviv, about 2,300 square kilometers, and it also remained opposed to the latter's considering the Karish field as an exclusive Israeli area.
As part of its battles to acquire gas deposits in the Mediterranean, Israel has been exploring in fields such as Leviathan, Dolphin, Dalit, Tamar and Tanin, and announced in July 2013 its intention to start exploration in a new field, which it called Karish.
With maritime delimitation negotiations failing to produce results, the Energean arrived at the field to begin drilling.
Lebanese experts warn that the danger is that modern drilling techniques will allow in a diagonal or even horizontal manner in the Karish field between 4 and 7 kilometers to reach the Lebanese concession areas No. 8 and 9, and thus the encroachment will obtain Lebanon's wealth of gas in the Mediterranean.