Benny Gantz, Israel’s Defense Minister, has ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on high alert in the northern part of the country after Israel rejected amendments to a maritime deal with Lebanon.
Israel is expecting an escalation from Hezbollah which has been making threats against Israel in recent weeks regarding the gas fields in Israel’s economic waters that Lebanon claims as their own, despite international law being on Israel’s side.
It was confirmed on Thursday that Prime Minister Yair Lapid rejected changes Lebanon proposed to a maritime border agreement drafted by the US. The agreement was hoped to bring about an end to the dispute, but those plans look to be on hold.
“The Defense Minister directed the IDF to prepare for a scenario of escalation in the north, both offensively and defensively, given the developments in the negotiations on the maritime border,” a statement from Gantz’s office said on Thursday evening.
Earlier in the day, Gantz had warned that Israel was prepared to defend itself.
“If Hezbollah tries to harm [Israeli infrastructure or sovereignty], the military cost to Lebanon and Hezbollah will be very high,” he said at a memorial ceremony for the fallen in the Yom Kippur War.
According to the Jerusalem Post, US Energy Envoy Amos Hochstein’s draft, presented to Israel and Lebanon last week, was meant to be close to the final version of an agreement settling the dispute over the countries’ economic waters. Lebanon submitted its comments on the draft on Tuesday.
Lapid assessed some of the demands to be new and significant and instructed the negotiating team to reject them.
“Prime Minister Lapid made clear that he will not compromise on Israel’s security and economic interests even if it means there will not be an agreement soon,” an Israeli government source said.
More specifically, the source said, one of the demands from Lebanon that Lapid rejected is that Total Energy, the French company with the license to develop the Kana gas field, buy out the portion of the reservoir in Israeli waters, whereas the proposal to which Israel agreed had Total pay royalties for the gas extracted from its waters.
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