"Israel" urges US to tell Lebanon that no gas production begins today

By Al Mayadeen English
9 Oct 2022 15:28
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The company working in the Karish rig, Energean, released a statement revealing testing of the rig will begin today, however, "Israel" tells the US that the injections are merely a test and that oil production will not happen today.

A floating production storage and offloading ship belonging to Energean in the Karish field, September 20, 2022

Tensions on the southern border of Lebanon are increasing as "Israel" begins testing the Karish field rig and ensuring functionality by starting the rig, a process that includes gas injections from the field into Israeli gas systems.

According to a statement by the oil and gas production company, Energean, "The gas flow from the shore is an important step in the process of starting up the rig."

Furthermore, the company noted via its Twitter account that "Energean is pleased to confirm an important step in the commissioning process of the FPSO Energean Power. Following approval received from the Israeli Ministry of Energy to start certain testing procedures, the flow of gas from onshore to the FPSO has commenced."

Energean is pleased to confirm an important step in the commissioning process of the FPSO Energean Power. Following approval received from Israeli Ministry of Energy to start certain testing procedures, the flow of gas from onshore to the FPSO has commenced. pic.twitter.com/OVjHpVG3Q8
— Energean (@Energean) October 9, 2022

Earlier in the day, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that "Israel" raised the level of alert for fear of "possible escalations in the north in the shadow of upcoming tests on the Karish oil field's pipeline connection to Israel's shore."

Just around noon, and following the raising of the alert by the IOF, senior Israeli correspondent Barak Ravid tweeted that "Israel" has "informed Lebanon through the American envoy Amos Hochstein that the gas injection is part of the process of running the rig and is not the beginning of gas production."

On Sunday, as part of his Twitter thread, Barak Ravid revealed that "Senior Israeli officials stated that the fear is that if an agreement is not reached on the Lebanese maritime border, the United Nations will designate Line 29 as its official position, which will make the "Karish" rig controversial."

Ravid further stated that "Between the lines: The "Karish" rig is south of line 23 where the sea border between Israel and Lebanon will pass according to the draft agreement. However, during the negotiations, the Lebanese demanded Line 29 - a much more southern line that would have put the rig into the area of dispute between the countries"

The importance of this information, in his opinion, is grounded in Hezbollah Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah's threats to target the Israeli rig "if gas production begins from Karish field before Lebanon receives its economic rights in the area of dispute in the Mediterranean between the parties," which was also described by Ravid, citing Nasrallah, as "the crossing of a red line that will lead to a reaction."

Earlier on Saturday, Security Minister Benny Gantz said that "if Hezbollah tries to attack the Karish rig, Israel will 'defend itself with determination'." Gantz also added that "he hopes that Israel will be close to a good agreement with Lebanon," claiming that "the agreement advances regional stability and reduces Iran's influence in Lebanon."

Simultaneously, the French Foreign Ministry announced that it is actively participating in the US mediation to reach an agreement demarcating the maritime borders between Lebanon and "Israel".

Israeli media: Demarcation deal could be salvation for Israelis

On Saturday, the Israeli Walla News website quoted Liat Ron, a reporter and one of the most experienced Israeli economic analysts and journalists, called on the residents of the north to go out and seek protection "because they had no other choice."

Ron said, "Go out into the streets and shout loudly what you and the heads of your settlements have been asking for more than a decade, pleading and begging decision-makers: Give us the ability to protect our children, ourselves, help us build fortified places, as you did in the Gaza envelope."

The Israeli journalist spoke about "more than 70% of the residents of the front line, to a distance of 4 km from the border, do not have fortified rooms, but only public shelters."

Furthermore, she said that "From 4 to 10 km from the border, the situation is worse. As alarms for rockets falling precede the impact by a few seconds only, if it precedes it at all, they have no chance of reaching the shelter, and when Hezbollah wages war, the fighting in Gaza will look like a cease-fire. Thousands of rockets will be fired at the settlements, and whoever is not in a fortified place will be killed or their life would be in danger."

Ron also argued that "Netanyahu and his group, who were supposed to protect you, now turn you into cannon fodders. Do not allow this and do not be misled behind superficial national slogans, do not be silent. The agreement with the Lebanese is the only salvation for you now, and is the difference between life and a mass disaster."

The analyst advocated for "igniting the streets and asking for quick solutions for the front-line residents."

Lebanon responds to 'Israel' rebuff of maritime demands

Lebanese President Michel Aoun responded on Thursday to the Israeli occupation's rejection of Beirut's proposed changes to the maritime borders demarcation agreement. He underlined that Lebanon had proposed the changes to the southern border demarcation deal with its rights to extract oil and gas in its exclusive economic zone in mind.

"The remarks prevent any explanations that do not fall into the framework detailed by Lebanon for the demarcation process and during the negotiations," President Aoun said.

An Israeli official said Thursday that the Israeli occupation rejected revisions requested by Lebanon to the Lebanese southern border demarcation proposal.

The official, announcing Israeli occupation Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s decision to reject the revision requests, warned that any further negotiations would cease should Hezbollah threaten the Karish gas rig.

According to the Israeli official, "Israel will begin production of natural gas from its Karish field as soon as that is possible," and he warned the Lebanese Resistance against taking any retaliatory action against the occupation.