Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday called on Israel to refrain from all oil and gas exploration activity in a maritime area claimed by Beirut.
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Aoun conveyed the demand during a meeting with a senior American official assisting in negotiations concerning the demarcation of a maritime border between Lebanon and Israel in the Mediterranean.
"These negotiations have the potential to unlock significant economic benefits for Lebanon," said US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale in a statement after the meeting with the Lebanese president.
"This is all the more critical against the backdrop of the severe economic crisis the country is facing. As needed, international experts can be brought in to help inform all of us," Hale added.
In early October 2020, Lebanon and Israel began unprecedented negotiations over a disputed maritime area comprising 860 square kilometers that is thought to contain gas-rich territory.
The negotiations, launched under the auspices of the UN and the United States to delineate the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel with the aim of removing obstacles to hydrocarbon prospecting, came to a standstill in November following a dispute between the two sides.
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Tensions boiled over once again this week when Lebanon's Public Works and Transport Minister Michel Najjar signed a document Monday unilaterally expanding Beirut's claims in the maritime border by some 1,400 square kilometers.
In response, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz accused Lebanon of trying to sabotage the stalled negotiations, saying that "It seems that Lebanon prefers to blow up the talks instead of trying to reach agreed-upon solutions."
"Unfortunately, this won't be the first time in the past 20 years that the Lebanese changed their naval maps for propaganda purposes," he continued. "Obviously, unilateral Lebanese steps will be met in kind by Israel."
In related news, Lebanon's caretaker energy minister on Thursday blamed the country's fuel crisis on profiteers who smuggle gasoline into neighboring Syria.
At a cabinet meeting to discuss the issue, Raymond Ghajar said the gap in gasoline prices between the two countries meant smugglers could make huge profits.
"The price of 20 liters of gasoline in Lebanon is 40,000 Lebanese pounds while the official price in Syria stands at 140,000 Syrian pounds and at 240,000 in the black market," Ghajar said in a cabinet statement.
"The Syrian market's needs for gasoline drive Lebanese smugglers to sneak gasoline into Syria to achieve huge profits."
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
