Lebanon: Israel activities in disputed maritime zone deteriorates security situation

Lebanese Minister of National Defence, Maurice Selim, yesterday warned that Israeli activities in the disputed maritime zone deteriorates the security in the south, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Selim said that the Israeli activities in the “disputed area in southern Lebanon constitute a challenge and a provocation to Lebanon and a flagrant violation of the stability in the southern part of the country.”

“Once again, Israel denies all international laws and norms, and is trying to create a fait accompli on the Lebanese borders, especially as it thwarts the efforts exerted to resume talks to demarcate the southern maritime borders.”

Selim called on the international community and the UN to “move quickly to end the renewed Israeli practices and to apply international resolutions in order to avoid any security deterioration in the area, which will undermine the stability of the whole region.”

The disputed area is estimated by 860 square kilometres, according to a map registered with the United Nations in 2011. In 2020, Lebanon demanded an additional area of 1,430 square kilometres, noting that the disputed area is not 860 square kilometres, but 2,290 square kilometres. Israel rejected this proposal and halted US mediated talks.

The Karish gas field contains 1.4 trillion cubic feet of proven and probable gas and this could be a game-changer for Lebanon, which is suffering from a chronic and tight economic crisis.

READ: Hezbollah warns it will not allow Israel to operate in Karish gas field