The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Thursday that his group could stop Israel from extracting gas from a maritime field that Beirut says lies in disputed waters, adding Hezbollah is "not afraid of war."
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Lebanon warned Israel on Sunday against any "aggressive action" in disputed waters where both states hope to develop offshore energy after a vessel operated by London-based Energean arrived off the coast to produce gas for Israel.
Hezbollah "has the capacity to prevent the enemy from beginning to extract from Karish, and all the enemy's actions will not be able to protect this ship," Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech.
"We have the military, logistical, and intelligence capability to prevent the enemy from producing gas from the Karish field. Our maritime wealth is Lebanon's only hope if it wants to save itself from economic collapse.
"The Lebanese losses in the event of war are nothing compared to what will happen on the Israeli entity's side, and if there is a war, it will have existential repercussions for Israel," Nasrallah said.
He said that "the Greek company," referring to Energean, "is a partner in this attack on Lebanon," for which it will face "consequences."
Energean declined to comment on Nasrallah's remarks about the Karish gas field.
Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded to Nasrallah's remarks, saying, "No one will dictate whether or not we drill for gas in the State of Israel's economic waters. Israel is a sovereign state and will continue to make decisions solely in accordance with its interests and without taking into consideration threats from terrorists of any kind. I propose Nasrallah keep hiding in his bunker. His videos from there don't impress anyone."
On Wednesday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Foreign Minister and Prime Minister-designate Yair Lapid, and Energy Minister Karine Elharrar issued a statement on the Karish field clarifying Israel would not drill for gas in disputed waters.
"The Karish gas field is a strategic asset for the State of Israel aimed at exhausting energy resources and natural gas in Israel's economic territory and to promote Israel's green economy." The officials noted the gas field is "located inside Israeli territory, kilometers south of the area on which negotiations are being held between Israel and the state of Lebanon with US mediation. The gas field will not pump gas from the disputed territory."
They said: "The State of Israel views the safeguarding of its strategic assets with utmost importance and is prepared to protect them and their infrastructure security, all this in accordance with its rights. Additionally, we call on the State of Lebanon to expedite negotiations on the maritime border. Gas-based energy resources can do a lot to assist Lebanon's economy and its citizens, and that is the chief interest of the State of Lebanon in promoting dialogue on the issue, and we hope that this will happen."
Energean has said that its floating production storage and offloading vessel is due to start production at Karish in the third quarter.
Discovered in 2013, Karish is located near the much larger Leviathan and Tamar gas fields in Israel's economic waters in the Mediterranean. Karish and Tanin ("Crocodile"), discovered soon after the former, are estimated to hold a combined 2–3 trillion cubic feet of gas. Energean acquired both fields from Delek Drilling and Avner in December 2016.
The United States began mediating indirect talks between the sides in 2000 to settle a long-running dispute that has obstructed energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
Lebanon has yet to respond to an undisclosed proposal a US envoy made early this year to revive the stalled talks.
Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri said on Tuesday that US mediator Amos Hochstein will visit Beirut early next week but Washington has said there are no travel plans to announce yet.
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