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Tel Aviv Says Israeli Gas Will Reach Lebanon Through Egypt, Jordan

Israel's Energy Minister Karine Elharrar (File Photo: Reuters)
Israel's Energy Minister Karine Elharrar (File Photo: Reuters)
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Tel Aviv Says Israeli Gas Will Reach Lebanon Through Egypt, Jordan

Israel's Energy Minister Karine Elharrar (File Photo: Reuters)
Israel's Energy Minister Karine Elharrar (File Photo: Reuters)

The Israeli Minister of Energy, Karine el-Harar, confirmed that "Israeli gas will reach Lebanon," an announcement denied earlier in Lebanon.

Several official Lebanese sources denied this news in the past weeks, asserting that the gas supply agreement states that the gas is Egyptian and not Israeli.

However, when asked about the possibility of Israeli gas exported to Egypt and Jordan making its way to Lebanon, Harrar said, "so be it."

Harar participated in Egypt Petroleum Show 2022 (EGYPS) at the head of a large Israeli delegation.

Harar added, "I don't care about that. We sell gas to Egypt," and Cairo sells it to others.

The Israeli energy economy is a bridge for consolidating relations with regional countries, she said, adding that she is pleased to have the opportunity to represent Israel in EGYPS, hoping it will be another step on the road to achieving peace.

Harrar, who uses a wheelchair due to a disease that left her unable to stand, cried when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi treated her in a special way.

Sisi was seen walking to the other side of the hall to welcome the Israeli Minister.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett praised Sisi for his special greeting.

Bennett retweeted video footage of the moment and wrote that he was "touched" by the gesture.

"President al-Sisi, you've touched us all," tweeted Bennett.

The Ministry of Energy issued a statement announcing that this is the first time Israeli officials have participated in the conference.

The Israeli delegation included the Ministry's Director-General, Lior Schillat, senior officials, and representatives of various Israeli companies producing gas and electric power.

Meanwhile, Egypt's petroleum minister Tarek el-Molla told the same event that the timeline for sending gas to Lebanon is flexible as it depends on Jordan and Lebanon.

He added that the technical aspects of supporting gas exports to Lebanon would be finished by February.

Jordanian Minister of Energy Saleh al-Kharabsheh announced that exporting electricity to Lebanon will start next month after finalizing a funding agreement with the World Bank.

The editor of Arab affairs in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Israelis know that Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah did not object to the gas deal.

She claimed that he turned a blind eye to the deal because there isn't any serious alternative, neither from Iran nor any other party.

The arrival of gas from Jordan is the shortest and fastest way to solve the energy crisis in Lebanon.

The gas reaches Jordan from Israel and Egypt.

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Arab World

Israel Summons Italy Envoy Over Comments on Lebanon Attacks

A handout photo made available by the Lebanese Presidency press office shows Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaking during a news conference after a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, 13 April 2026. (EPA/Lebanese Presidency)
A handout photo made available by the Lebanese Presidency press office shows Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaking during a news conference after a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, 13 April 2026. (EPA/Lebanese Presidency)
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Israel Summons Italy Envoy Over Comments on Lebanon Attacks

A handout photo made available by the Lebanese Presidency press office shows Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaking during a news conference after a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, 13 April 2026. (EPA/Lebanese Presidency)
A handout photo made available by the Lebanese Presidency press office shows Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani speaking during a news conference after a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (not pictured) at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, 13 April 2026. (EPA/Lebanese Presidency)

Israel summoned Italy's ambassador Monday to protest after Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani condemned Israel's "unacceptable attacks" on civilians in Lebanon during a visit to Beirut, an Italian diplomatic source said.

Tajani, a senior member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government, visited Beirut on Monday for talks with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi.

Tajani wrote on X that he was there to "convey Italy's solidarity following Israel's unacceptable attacks against the civilian population".

He called for dialogue between Lebanon and Israel and a "necessary and lasting ceasefire" adding: "Another escalation like in Gaza must be avoided at all costs."

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war when Iran-backed group Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2, days after the opening salvo of US-Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel responded with massive strikes and a ground invasion.

Israel's military said Monday that a massive wave of strikes in Lebanon last week killed five Hezbollah commanders, as well as more than 250 of the Iran-backed group's fighters.

Italy's government summoned Israel's ambassador last week after saying Israeli forces fired warning shots at a convoy of Italian UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, damaging at least one vehicle but causing no injuries.

Arab World

Israeli Troops Fire Tear Gas at Palestinian Schoolchildren in West Bank

13 April 2026, Palestinian Territories, Hebron: Members of Red Crescent surround Palestinian children from Khirbet Umm al-Khair after Israeli settlers blocked the only road to their schools. (dpa)
13 April 2026, Palestinian Territories, Hebron: Members of Red Crescent surround Palestinian children from Khirbet Umm al-Khair after Israeli settlers blocked the only road to their schools. (dpa)
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Israeli Troops Fire Tear Gas at Palestinian Schoolchildren in West Bank

13 April 2026, Palestinian Territories, Hebron: Members of Red Crescent surround Palestinian children from Khirbet Umm al-Khair after Israeli settlers blocked the only road to their schools. (dpa)
13 April 2026, Palestinian Territories, Hebron: Members of Red Crescent surround Palestinian children from Khirbet Umm al-Khair after Israeli settlers blocked the only road to their schools. (dpa)

Israeli forces fired tear gas at Palestinian schoolchildren staging a sit-in on Monday in the occupied West Bank, AFP footage showed, after settlers blocked access to their school.

The Israeli military confirmed to AFP it had dispersed an "unusual gathering", but did not specify whether its troops had fired tear gas at the children on the first day of class since the start of the Iran war.

The incident took place at Umm al-Khair, a small village in the southern West Bank region of Masafer Yatta.

Schoolchildren there had been due back in class on Monday for the first time in more than 40 days, after lessons were suspended following the outbreak of the Middle East war on February 28.

A group of schoolchildren and Palestinian residents had gathered near a barbed wire fence erected by Israeli settlers, which blocked access to the school, an AFP journalist reported.

Schoolchildren and some local adults were holding an open-air class as a sit-in to demand access when troops fired the tear gas, witnesses said.

"We were sitting and they threw a grenade (tear gas canister) at us. I got scared and started screaming and ran away," 12-year-old Sarah al-Hathaleen told AFP.

"I started crying. A woman hugged me and stayed with me. We were very scared."

Bassam Jabr, director of education for the Masafer Yatta area, confirmed the children were staging a sit-in at the time of the incident.

"Settlers are trying to tighten the noose on us in every way. One of these methods is cutting off the road for school students and expanding the settlement," Jabr said of settlers from the nearby Carmel settlement whose residents erected the fence.

"Sadly, there are no solutions. We will continue this sit-in today and tomorrow until we find a solution so the students can return to their schools," he said.

Israel's military said troops had been dispatched to the area.

"Soldiers were dispatched to the area of Umm Al-Khair due to reports of an unusual gathering of Palestinians in the area," the military told AFP.

"The gathering was dispersed and no injuries were reported," it said, without specifying whether tear gas had been fired.

AFP footage showed canisters being fired, with children screaming and fleeing.

"Last night we were excited for school today. The Israelis came and closed the road with barbed wire... we want to be back in school," said 11-year-old Rashid al-Hathaleen.

The Masafer Yatta region is a known hotspot for settler violence and Palestinian home demolitions.

It was in Umm al-Khair village that Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen was killed by a settler in August 2025.

Settler violence has also surged across the West Bank since the outbreak of the Iran war.

Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

Arab World

Israel Army Ups Hezbollah Death Toll from April 8 Strikes to Over 250

12 April 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: People and civil defense workers search for human remains amid the debris of a collapsed building following an Israeli air strike at the Beirut seafront. (dpa)
12 April 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: People and civil defense workers search for human remains amid the debris of a collapsed building following an Israeli air strike at the Beirut seafront. (dpa)
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Israel Army Ups Hezbollah Death Toll from April 8 Strikes to Over 250

12 April 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: People and civil defense workers search for human remains amid the debris of a collapsed building following an Israeli air strike at the Beirut seafront. (dpa)
12 April 2026, Lebanon, Beirut: People and civil defense workers search for human remains amid the debris of a collapsed building following an Israeli air strike at the Beirut seafront. (dpa)

Israel's military said Monday that a massive wave of strikes in Lebanon last week killed five Hezbollah commanders, as well as more than 250 of the Iran-backed group's fighters.

The Lebanese health ministry has said Wednesday's attacks killed more than 350 people in total and wounded more than 1,200.

Israel had previously put the number of Hezbollah members killed at around 180.

"During the largest strike conducted in Lebanon, more than 250 Hezbollah terrorists and commanders were eliminated" across the country, including in the country's south, the Bekaa region and Beirut, the military said in its statement Monday.

The military named five commanders killed, including Hassen Nasser, chief of Hezbollah's logistics support headquarters, and Abu Muhammad Habib, deputy commander of the group's missile unit.

The army said Monday that it continued to operate in Lebanon, with troops surrounding the southern town of Bint Jbeil.

Last week's punishing wave of strikes came on the same day as the start of a fragile two-week truce agreed between the US and Iran in the Middle East war, which has killed thousands across the region and plunged the global economy into turmoil.

Also on Monday, Israel's military said it had struck around 150 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past 24 hours. 

"In the past 24 hours, approximately 150 Hezbollah terrorist organization targets were struck in numerous areas across southern Lebanon," the military said, adding that the targets included "military structures, anti-tank missile launch points, and terror command centers". 

Lebanon was pulled into the war when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2, days after the opening salvo of US-Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel responded with massive strikes and a ground invasion.

While Iran and mediator Pakistan had insisted Lebanon was included under the ceasefire, Israel and the US have disputed this.

Israeli and Lebanese officials are set to hold negotiations on Tuesday in Washington.