Despite the reports of progress in the ongoing talks between Israel and Lebanon to resolve the maritime border dispute surrounding the Karish gas field, an official issued a clear message to Hezbollah not to provoke Israel.
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"We are keeping a watchful eye and our policy is still in force: We will start extracting gas from Karish as soon as the preparations are complete, and any attack on the gas drilling rig will lead to an Israeli retaliation," the official said. The official added that "despite the progress, there is still much more work to do and the government of Lebanon has to make a decision."
The conventional wisdom in Israel is that Lebanon would like to reach an arrangement with Israel but it is Hezbollah that has been trying to put a spoke in the wheel of any deal. It is believed that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah would like to take credit for any concessions Lebanon gets as part of the talks. There is also the possibility that he is looking for a pretext for a confrontation with Israel, possibly because of Iranian instructions but also because of its domestic considerations.
The official noted that it is still unclear when the actual production of gas will commence, but warned Hezbollah that "it would make a major miscalculation if it takes action against Israeli gas drilling activity."
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