The Lebanese Hezbollah chief spoke out against Israel today over the disputed waters between the two countries in the eastern Mediterranean, where the discovery of large gas fields in recent years has fueled a border dispute.
Hasan Nasrallah, in his speech on television on the occasion of the religious holidays of the Shiites, said, “Anyone who wants to take our wealth will have their hands cut off.”
“Lebanon’s oil, gas and water resources must remain under their control and no one should be allowed to steal from the country,” he said.
Lebanon and Israel, two neighboring countries officially at war, are negotiating with the United States as mediators to resolve the border dispute and remove barriers to hydrocarbon exploration.
The maritime border negotiations, launched in October 2020, initially covered an area of 860 km2, in line with the claims of Lebanon registered with the UN in 2011.
However, Lebanon later said it wanted to claim an additional 1,430 km2, including part of the Karish gas field.
For Israel, this deposit is located in the UN-recognized Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
In early August, US mediator Amos Hochstein was “optimistic” about the possibility of a deal.
source: Noticias
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