Gantz warns Hezbollah that if it attacks the Karish camp it may provoke a “reaction” from Israel

Aug. 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Israel’s Defense Minister, Benny Gantz, has warned the Hezbollah Shia militia party that if it attacks the gas extraction facilities in the Karish field, located in an area of ​​the Mediterranean Sea in dispute between the two countries, it could provoke “a reaction” from Israel.

“(This is an) matter for which the State of Lebanon should take responsibility and I hope things work out,” said the head of the Israeli Defense portfolio in an interview with emosira 103 FM picked up by local media.

Gantz has stressed that it is not a desired conflict, so he hopes that there will be mediation through the United States. However, Israel’s security forces are on high alert near the northern border, according to the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’.

The leader of the Shiite militia-party Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, threatened on Friday to escalate hostilities with Israel if negotiations on the maritime border between Israel and Lebanon did not meet Lebanese demands.

“Whether or not a nuclear deal with Iran is signed, if the US mediator does not give Lebanon what it asked for in terms of its rights, we are headed for an escalation: we are headed for a problem,” he said in a televised statement. , as reported on Sunday by the newspaper ‘The Jerusalem Post’.

Israel and Lebanon — which are technically at war and do not maintain diplomatic relations — began a process of indirect talks in October 2020, mediated by the United States and held under the auspices of the United Nations at the headquarters of the international organization. in the Lebanese city of Naqura.

The negotiations revolve around an area of ​​860 square kilometers that, according to both countries, is located in their respective Exclusive Economic Zones, a matter of special importance after the discovery of gas reserves in this area that both Israel and Lebanon hope to be able to exploit. .