Hundreds of people and several lawmakers protested Saturday in southern Lebanon against Israel moving a gas production vessel into an offshore field partly claimed by Beirut.
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The demonstration comes just days before the US envoy mediating maritime border talks between the two countries is expected in Lebanon and after the ship operated by London-listed Energean arrived in the Karish gas field last week.
Several hundred people waved Lebanese and Palestinian flags at Lebanon's border town of Naqoura to protest Israel's claim to the area where the Karish field is located.
"We absolutely refuse to neglect Lebanon's maritime resources, which belong to all Lebanese," said lawmaker Firas Hamdan, reading a joint statement from 13 independent parliamentarians, most of whom were newly elected last month.
The United States will send an envoy to Lebanon next week to discuss the country's energy crisis and underscore Washington's hope that Beirut and Israel can reach a decision delimiting their maritime boundary, the State Department said on Friday.
Amos Hochstein, the State Department's senior advisor for energy security, will visit Lebanon June 13-14, the department said in a statement. Washington began mediating indirect talks over Israel and Lebanon's disputed maritime border in 2020.
"The Administration welcomes the consultative and open spirit of the parties to reach a final decision, which has the potential to yield greater stability, security, and prosperity for both Lebanon and Israel, as well as for the region," the statement said.
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."
"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," he said.
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