'Israel' gives US proposal on demarcation of Lebanese maritime borders
Israeli media says the Israeli occupation told the United States it was ready to make concessions on the disputed maritime area with Lebanon.
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Amos Hochstein, US State Department special envoy for energy (left), shakes hands with then-US vice president Joe Biden after introducing at the Caribbean Energy Security Summit at the State Department in Washington, on January 26, 2015 (AP)
The Israeli occupation on Tuesday gave the United States an updated proposal regarding "Tel Aviv's" maritime borders with Lebanon, Israeli newspaper Walla! said on Wednesday.
"The Israeli position was given to the White House ahead of US mediator Amos Hochstein's visit to Lebanon next week in light of the indirect talks between [Beirut and 'Tel Aviv']," two Israeli officials familiar with the matter said.
The Biden administration, along with the Israeli and Lebanese governments, hopes that Hoschstein's visit to Beirut lead to a breakthrough and subsequently an agreement.
This comes in light of threats from Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who warned the Israeli occupation against committing any provocations against Lebanon, saying there were no Israeli targets in the sea or on land that are out of the reach of the resistance's precision missiles.
National Security Adviser Eyal Holata and Israeli chief negotiator Udi Adiri talked with US envoy Hochstein and Biden's senior adviser on Middle East affairs, Brett McGurk, about the negotiations with Lebanon.
"The goal of this conversation was to convey the updated Israeli position so that Hoschstein can present it during the negotiations in Beirut," senior Israeli officials said.
"Israel's position entails confirmation that it is ready to offer concessions regarding the disputed area with Lebanon, but it will not offer any concessions outside the disputed area," the officials added.
"Tel Aviv" clarified that it has "economic rights" to any gas field discovered in the disputed area, but it is ready to offer concessions regarding the possible revenues.
"Israel" has presented the United States with a blueprint for the "fair distribution of potential profits" from any gas field discovered in the disputed area, senior Israeli officials said.
Israeli occupation Reserve Major General Amos Gilad called on "Tel Aviv" to take Sayyed Nasrallah's threats made against the Israeli occupation on Monday seriously.
"Nasrallah's threats must be taken seriously, and [the Israeli occupation forces] must prepare," Gilad told Israeli public broadcaster KAN. "If they attack the Karish rig or any other rig, that will definitely lead to a confrontation that can have many dimensions."
Warning the Israeli occupation against committing any provocations against Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah said there were no Israeli targets in the sea or land out of the reach of the Resistance's precision missiles.
Sayyed Nasrallah underscored that the Israeli occupation realized, through the July war, that confrontation with the resistance was dangerous and that the resistance's capabilities were much more than just confrontations at the border.
"Since 2006, the enemy does not dare take any action against Lebanon," the Resistance leader said, noting that "Tel Aviv" was only resorting to run-of-the-mill operations that leave no mark in Lebanon.
The Israeli military and security apparatuses are taking Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's threats seriously, Israeli Channel 12 said Wednesday, noting that the Israeli occupation forces are raising their level of alert.
"These are not the first threats that Nasrallah makes. But this time, he is specifying the time and making clear cut conditions regarding the start of the extraction of gas from the Karish gas field," the Israeli TV channel said.
