Energean Power FPSO – Credit: Energean (via Israel’s Energy Ministry)
Lebanon and Israel are about to reach an agreement on the demarcation of their naval borders, a Lebanese official told the Sputnik news agency on August 20.
“We are very close to reaching an agreement on the demarcation of the maritime border with Israel, and we were informed that the answer, which the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, will bring from the Israeli side, in response to the Lebanese proposal, is positive,” the unnamed official said.
The official added that Hochstien will arrive in the Lebanese capital, Beirut soon, stressing that the fate of the maritime dispute with Israel will be sealed in September.
The Lebanese-Israeli maritime dispute returned to the spot light in June, when the Greek-owned Energean Power FPSO [Floating Production Storage Offloading] reached the Karish naval field to extract gas for Israel. Lebanon claims that at least a part of the field is located within its exclusive economic zone.
The optimistic Lebanese statement came following a speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah, in which he threatened Israel with escalation if went on with its plans to extract gas from Karish. Nasrallah also noted that the fate of the Iranian nuclear deal will not affect Lebanon’s maritime dispute with Israel.
Despite the recent progress in the US-backed indirect talks with Lebanon, Israel appears to be preparing for the worst. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have reportedly placed its troops in the northern region on high-alert.
Reaching an agreement before September is critical for Lebanon, as Israel is planning to begin extracting gas from Karish then. If the diplomatic efforts failed, Hezbollah could take military action to stop operations at the dispute gas field. This will likely lead to a serious confrontation with the IDF.
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