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Israel-Lebanon Sea Boundary Row Obstructs Energy Development

Water border marks in the Mediterranean sea next to Rosh Hanikra, near Haifa at the Israel-Lebanon border, 06 June 2022. (EPA)
Water border marks in the Mediterranean sea next to Rosh Hanikra, near Haifa at the Israel-Lebanon border, 06 June 2022. (EPA)
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Israel-Lebanon Sea Boundary Row Obstructs Energy Development

Water border marks in the Mediterranean sea next to Rosh Hanikra, near Haifa at the Israel-Lebanon border, 06 June 2022. (EPA)
Water border marks in the Mediterranean sea next to Rosh Hanikra, near Haifa at the Israel-Lebanon border, 06 June 2022. (EPA)

A dispute between Israel and Lebanon over their maritime boundary has obstructed energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean and risks exacerbating tensions between two foes.

After months of deadlock in US-mediated talks, Beirut on Sunday warned against any activity in the disputed area, responding to the arrival of a vessel to develop a field for Israel.

Lebanon has said the field in question, Karish, is in disputed waters. Israel denies this.

Here's what you need to know about the standoff:

What’s at stake?
Gas - potentially a lot of it.

Lebanon and Israel are located in the Levant Basin, where a number of big sub-sea gas fields have been discovered since 2009. Israel already produces and exports gas.

But while Israel has moved ahead, Lebanese hopes of producing energy have been hamstrung by political paralysis.

Lebanon's one and only attempt at drilling - an exploratory well in 2020 - found gas traces but no reservoirs, according to France's Total, part of a consortium with Italy's ENI and Russia's Novatek that was awarded Lebanon's first oil and gas offshore license in 2018.

A gas find would be a major boon for Lebanon, which has been mired in financial crisis since 2019. Eventually, such a discovery could fix Lebanon's long-standing failure to produce adequate electricity for its population.

Israeli officials have previously said they hoped the negotiations would take a short time and that an agreement would strengthen both countries' economies.

But while an agreement could allow both sides to benefit, the issue could risk conflict if unresolved.

Lebanon is home to the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has fought numerous wars with Israel and has previously warned Israel against drilling in the disputed zone.

What is the dispute over?
Lebanon and Israel are at odds over the boundary separating their exclusive economic zones - an offshore area that a country can claim for resource extraction.

Israel claims the boundary runs further north than Lebanon accepts, while Lebanon claims it runs further south than Israel accepts, leaving a triangle of disputed waters.

After indirect negotiations began in 2020, Lebanon expanded its claim. Israel then did the same.

Karish became part of the zone Lebanon was disputing after Beirut expanded its claim, according to Laury Haytayan, a Lebanese oil and gas expert.

Lebanon has stated that Karish was in the disputed area in a letter to the United Nations, the presidency said on Sunday.

Israel says Karish field, discovered more than a decade ago, is in its exclusive economic zone. Israeli Energy Minister Karin Elharrar said the Lebanese account was "very far from reality".

What does Hezbollah think?
Hezbollah has been a sworn enemy of Israel since it was established in 1982 by Iran's Revolutionary Guards. The group has said the talks are not a sign of peace-making and threatened action if Israel violates Lebanese rights.

But Hezbollah is more deeply involved than ever in Lebanese state affairs, and wants to see Lebanon's offshore energy resources developed. It has not stood in the way of the US-mediated indirect talks and has said it will agree to whatever the government agrees.

Is there a risk of conflict?
The last major war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon was in 2006. The border area has remained largely calm since. Analysts believe both sides want to avoid another conflict.

But Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said last year Israel was wrong if it thought it could act as it pleased before a solution was reached, and the group would "act accordingly" when it finds that Lebanese oil and gas is in danger.

Following the latest spat, Lebanon said it would invite a US envoy to resume negotiations to prevent any escalation and Israel's defense minister said the matter was a civilian issue to be resolved diplomatically.

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Protest Letters from Former Israeli Soldiers Lay Bare Profound Rifts over Gaza War

A woman chants slogans as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages, held captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 attacks, hold placards and chant slogans during an anti-government demonstration calling for action to secure their release, outside the Israeli prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A woman chants slogans as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages, held captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 attacks, hold placards and chant slogans during an anti-government demonstration calling for action to secure their release, outside the Israeli prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Protest Letters from Former Israeli Soldiers Lay Bare Profound Rifts over Gaza War

A woman chants slogans as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages, held captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 attacks, hold placards and chant slogans during an anti-government demonstration calling for action to secure their release, outside the Israeli prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A woman chants slogans as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages, held captive in the Gaza Strip since the October 2023 attacks, hold placards and chant slogans during an anti-government demonstration calling for action to secure their release, outside the Israeli prime minister's residence in Jerusalem on April 17, 2025. (AFP)

When nearly 1,000 Israeli Air Force veterans signed an open letter last week calling for an end to the war in Gaza, the military responded immediately, saying it would dismiss any active reservist who signed the document.

But in the days since, thousands of retired and reservist soldiers across the military have signed similar letters of support.

The growing campaign, which accuses the government of perpetuating the war for political reasons and failing to bring home the remaining hostages, has laid bare the deep division and disillusionment over Israel’s fighting in Gaza.

By spilling over into the military, it has threatened national unity and raised questions about the army’s ability to continue fighting at full force. It also resembles the bitter divisions that erupted in early 2023 over the government’s attempts to overhaul Israel’s legal system, which many say weakened the country and encouraged Hamas’ attack later that year that triggered the war.

“It’s crystal clear that the renewal of the war is for political reasons and not for security reasons,” Guy Poran, a retired pilot who was one of the initiators of the air force letter, told The Associated Press.

A return to war

The catalyst for the letters was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision on March 18 to return to war instead of sticking to a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of some hostages.

Netanyahu says the military pressure is needed to force Hamas to release the remaining hostages. Critics, including many families of the hostages, fear that it will get them killed.

One month after Netanyahu resumed the war, none of the 59 hostages held by Hamas have been freed or rescued, of whom 24 are believed to still be alive.

In their letters, the protesters have stopped short of refusing to serve. And the vast majority of the 10,000 soldiers who have signed are retired in any case.

Nonetheless, Poran said their decision to identify themselves as ex-pilots was deliberate — given the respect among Israel’s Jewish majority for the military, and especially for fighter pilots and other prestigious units. Tens of thousands of academics, doctors, former ambassadors, students and high-tech workers have signed similar letters of solidarity in recent days, also demanding an end to the war.

“We are aware of the relative importance and the weight of the brand of Israeli Air Force pilots and felt that it is exactly the kind of case where we should use this title in order to influence society,” said Poran.

Elusive war goals

The war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas carried out a surprise cross-border attack, killing about 1,200 people in southern Israel and taking 251 others hostage.

Throughout the war, Netanyahu has set two major goals: destroying Hamas and bringing home the hostages.

Israel’s offensive has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who don't differentiate between civilians and combatants.

While Israel has come under heavy international criticism over the devastation in Gaza, the domestic opposition to the conflict reflects a widespread belief that Netanyahu’s war goals are not realistic.

Nearly 70% of Israelis now say bringing home the hostages is the most important goal of the war, up from just over 50% in January 2024, according to a study conducted by the Jerusalem think tank Israel Democracy Institute. Nearly 60% of respondents said Netanyahu’s two goals cannot be realized together.

The survey interviewed nearly 750 people and had a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.

Netanyahu’s opponents have also accused him of resuming the war to pander to his hardline coalition partners, who have threatened to topple the government if he ends the fighting.

Steering clear of politics

Many people were surprised by the military’s snap decision to dismiss air force reservists who signed the protest letter.

The army, which is mandatory for most Jewish men, has long served as a melting pot and unifying force among Israel’s Jewish majority. Many key units rely heavily on reservists, who often serve well into their 40s.

In a statement, the military said it should be “above all political disputes.”

As the protest movement has grown, a military official said the army is taking the letters “very seriously.”

He said it joins a list of challenges to calling up reservists and that the army is working to support them. A growing number of reservists have stopped reporting for duty, citing exhaustion, family reasons, and the financial burden of missing work.

“Any civilian can have his opinions. The problems come when people use the army as a tool promoting their opinions, whatever they may be,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under military guidelines.

The army’s dilemma

Eran Duvdevani, who organized a letter signed by 2,500 former paratroopers, told the AP that the army faces a dilemma.

“If it will keep on releasing from service the pilots, what about all the others who signed the letters? Will they be discharged from service as well?” he said.

He said he organized the letter to show “the pilots are not alone.” Their concern over the war’s direction “is a widespread opinion, and you have to take it into consideration.”

Although only a few hundred of the signatories are still actively serving, the Israeli military has been stretched by 18 months of fighting and isn’t in any position to be turning away anyone from reserve duty. Many Israelis are also furious that as reservists repeatedly get called up for action, the government continues to grant military exemptions to Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox governing partners.

The number of Israelis continuing to report for reserve duty has dropped so low that the military has taken to social media to try to recruit people to keep serving.

Protest letters illuminate widespread divisions

Eran Halperin, an expert in social psychology at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, called the letters “the most important indication of the erosion of the ethos in this particular war.”

Though the war enjoyed widespread support at the outset, doubts have grown as so many hostages continue to languish in captivity and the Israeli death toll mounts. Nearly 850 soldiers have been killed since the war started.

“It’s very, very difficult to maintain and manage a war in such violent conflict when there are such deep disagreements about the main questions pertaining to the war,” Halperin said.

In recent days, Netanyahu’s office has published a flurry of messages touting meetings with families of the hostages, stressing he is doing everything he can to hasten their return.

On Tuesday, he and his defense minister toured northern Gaza, where Netanyahu praised the “amazing reservists” doing “marvelous work.”

Netanyahu’s office released videos of him marching through the sandy dunes surrounded by dozens of soldiers.

“We are fighting for our existence,” he said. “We are fighting for our future.”