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.



Iranians Fear Trump Comeback will Bring Them More Pain

A woman walks past the former US embassy compound in Tehran, which has skulls embedded in the wall - AFP
A woman walks past the former US embassy compound in Tehran, which has skulls embedded in the wall - AFP
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Iranians Fear Trump Comeback will Bring Them More Pain

A woman walks past the former US embassy compound in Tehran, which has skulls embedded in the wall - AFP
A woman walks past the former US embassy compound in Tehran, which has skulls embedded in the wall - AFP

When Donald Trump was last in the White House, he pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran, including punishing sanctions.

Now that he is set to begin another term as US president in January, anxiety is mounting in Tehran that more of the same will follow.

During Trump's first term, the United States also killed a revered Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general in an airstrike on Baghdad airport in Iraq.
"It will be harmful for Iran," said 37-year-old Bashir Abbaspour, who works at a private company, reflecting widespread concern in Iran as news broke on Wednesday of Trump's victory.

His win came with the Middle East in turmoil after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by the unprecedented attack by Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel.

Iranians best remember Trump for his campaign of intensified sanctions and Washington's 2018 withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal that offered Tehran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear ambitions.

The deal's collapse took a toll on ordinary Iranians grappling with galloping inflation and a sharp depreciation of the rial against the US dollar.

"The sanctions will increase, and with that, the prices will too. It's not a good thing for Iran," Abbaspour said of Trump's comeback.

Washington officially broke off relations with Tehran a year after the Islamic revolution in 1979, and ties have been frozen ever since.

- 'No difference' -

On Wednesday, the conservative Jam-e Jam newspaper featured front-page pictures of the two main US candidates, the Republican Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, with two demons depicted looming behind them.

"The result of the US elections will make no difference for us," read the daily's main headline, citing Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Reza Aram, a 51-year-old insurance agent, agreed. He said Washington's attitude towards Iran "won't change", regardless of who is president there.

"Iran's relations (with the US) will be the same (with Trump) as with Democrats," he said.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in Iran in July, has said he sought to shore up ties with West and revive the nuclear deal and end Iran's isolation.

But in recent weeks, Araghchi has said indirect nuclear talks with the United States have stopped because of regional tensions.

On October 1, Iran fired around 200 missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and a Revolutionary Guards commander.

In April, in its first ever direct assault on Israeli territory, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles in response to a deadly strike on its consulate in Damascus, which it blamed on Israel.

- 'Under pressure' -

During Trump's first term, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, called him "unbalanced" and "foul-mouthed" as he addressed laughing crowds in Tehran.

When in 2020 Trump ordered the killing of Iran's esteemed IRGC general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad, Tehran responded by attacking bases housing US troops in Iraq.

In the months leading up to Tuesday's vote in the United States, American officials charged that Iran was attempting to interfere in the elections, and Trump accused Tehran of posing "big threats" to his life.

On July 13, after a gunman wounded Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, US media reported that authorities had received intelligence about an alleged Iranian plot against him.

Iran roundly denied the accusations as "malicious".

Now, with Trump due to be back in office soon and with memories of his previous term still fresh, Iranians find themselves left with little but hope for better days ahead.

"I'm worried right now about the situation of the country and its economy," said 56-year-old Zahra Eghbali. "People are under pressure."

"Both sides should come to an agreement that is to the benefit of the people."