UPDATE 3-Lebanon to begin offshore energy search in block disputed by Israel
▻https://uk.reuters.com/article/lebanon-israel-natgas/update-1-lebanon-will-fully-use-energy-block-disputed-by-israel-minister
Lebanon said on Friday it had signed its first offshore oil and gas exploration and production agreements for two blocks, including a block disputed by neighbouring Israel.
Lebanon’s energy minister said the dispute with Israel would not stop Lebanon benefiting from potential undersea reserves in the contentious Block 9, while consortium operator Total said it would not drill the block’s first well near the disputed zone.
[…]
Lebanese and Israeli officials said David Satterfield, acting assistant U.S. secretary of state, was in Israel last week and in Lebanon this week on a mediation mission. U.S. officials confirmed his travels without detailing his agenda.
Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Friday a diplomatic resolution to the dispute “is preferable to threats”.
But, speaking to Tel Aviv radio station 102 FM, Steinitz added: “We made two things clear, in a very forthright manner, over the last year. One, don’t provoke us, and don’t explore in or even get close to the disputed line-of-contact.”
But : ah ben voilà que Reuters, au fil des mises à jours successives de la dépêche, met en doute la volonté inébranlable d’Israel de recourir à une résolution diplomatique de la dispute frontalière… Doute substancié par le paragraphe suivant qui rappelle innocemment…
Israel last went to war in Lebanon in 2006, against the heavily armed, Iran-backed Shi‘ite Muslim Hezbollah movement. Israel says Hezbollah has increased in strength since helping sway the Syrian civil war in President Bashar al-Assad’s favour.