BEIRUT —
Lebanon on Monday called for
US mediation after Israel moved a gas production
vessel into an offshore field, a part of which is claimed by Beirut.
اضافة اعلان
The ship operated
by
London-listed Energean Plc arrived in the Karish gas field on Sunday and
will immediately commence operations, Energean said in a statement.
The move
immediately drew condemnation from Lebanon’s president and prime minister who
held talks on Monday to discuss next steps.
The two agreed to
“invite US envoy
Amos Hochstein to Beirut to look into restarting negotiations
to demarcate Lebanon’s southern maritime border” which stalled last May, said a
statement by
Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
“Any exploration,
drilling or extraction carried out by Israel in the disputed areas constitutes
a provocation and an act of aggression,” the statement said.
Lebanon and Israel
last fought a war in 2006, have no diplomatic relations and are separated by a
UN-patrolled border.
They had resumed
negotiations over their maritime border in 2020 but the process was stalled by
Beirut’s claim that the map used by the UN in the talks needed modifying.
Lebanon initially
demanded 860sq.km. of territory in the disputed maritime area but then asked
for an additional 1,430sq.km., including part of Karish.
Disputed territory
Lebanese officials said Sunday that any Israeli activity in disputed
waters would constitute a “hostile act” and an “attack” on Lebanon’s natural
resources.
But for Israel,
Karish lies “within Israel’s
UN-recognized exclusive economic zone,” and not in
disputed territory, a senior Israeli official told AFP on condition of
anonymity.
An Israeli energy
ministry spokeswoman told AFP that drilling was completed months ago and “the
flow of gas from Karish should start in September”.
The production
vessel that arrived Sunday will be connected to Karish via pipelines, she said.
“Other pipelines
will take the gas from the platform to the Israeli shores,” she said, referring
to the ship.
Lebanon’s powerful
Iran-backed
Hezbollah militant movement has warned Israel that it could seek to
disrupt attempts to extract oil and gas from Karish and other disputed areas.
Lebanese energy
expert Laury Haytayan said Lebanese authorities should sign a decree amending
demarcation lines of the maritime border instead of turning to Washington for
mediation.
“If Lebanese
officials believe that an invitation for Hochstein to visit Beirut will stop
work in Karish, this is a waste of time,” she told AFP.
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