Lebanese Ministers Expand Claim over Disputed Maritime Area with Israel

A United Nations naval ship is pictured off the Lebanese coast in the town of Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, Oct. 14, 2020. (Reuters)
A United Nations naval ship is pictured off the Lebanese coast in the town of Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, Oct. 14, 2020. (Reuters)
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Lebanese Ministers Expand Claim over Disputed Maritime Area with Israel

A United Nations naval ship is pictured off the Lebanese coast in the town of Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, Oct. 14, 2020. (Reuters)
A United Nations naval ship is pictured off the Lebanese coast in the town of Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, Oct. 14, 2020. (Reuters)

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister on Monday approved a draft decree expanding the country’s claims in a dispute with Israel over their maritime border that has held up hydrocarbon exploration in the potentially gas-rich area.

Hassan Diab signed off on the document after both the minister of public works and the minister of defense earlier agreed to it.

The amendment would add around 1,400 square km (540 square miles) to the exclusive economic zone claimed by Lebanon in its original submission to the United Nations.

The draft decree relating to the amendment of the initial decree 6433 of 2011 has now been referred to the presidency for approval ahead of a request to the United Nations for a formal claim to register the new coordinates for the maritime zone.

Negotiations between old foes Lebanon and Israel were launched in October to try to resolve the dispute, yet the talks, a culmination of three years of diplomacy by the United States, have since stalled.

“I expect it (the decree) will be signed as everyone, the minister of defense and the prime minister and the president, are concerned about this,” minister of public works Michel Najjar told a news conference earlier on Monday.

Israel already pumps gas from huge offshore fields but Lebanon has yet to find commercial gas reserves in its own waters.

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Lebanon’s latest move would derail the talks rather than help work towards a common solution. “Unilateral Lebanese measures will, of course, be answered with parallel measures by Israel,” he said in a statement.

Lebanon, in the throes of a deep financial meltdown that is threatening its stability, is desperate for cash as it faces the worst economic crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war.

“We will not give up any inch of our homeland or a drop of its waters or an inch of its dignity,” Najjar said.



Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
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Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)

The humanitarian aid system in Gaza is "facing total collapse" because of Israel's blockade on aid supplies since March 2, the heads of 12 major aid organizations warned Thursday, urging Israel to let them "do our jobs".

Israel has vowed to maintain its blockage on humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged territory, saying it is the only way to force Hamas to release the 58 hostages still held there.

"Every single person in Gaza is relying on humanitarian aid to survive," the chief executives of 12 NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children, wrote in a joint statement.

"That lifeline has been completely cut off since a blockade on all aid supplies was imposed by Israeli authorities on March 2," they said, adding that "This is one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation."

A survey of 43 international and Palestinian aid organizations working in Gaza found that almost all have suspended or drastically cut services since a ceasefire ended on March 18, "with widespread and indiscriminate bombing making it extremely dangerous to move around", the NGOs said.

"Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza," they said. "Survival itself is now slipping out of reach and the humanitarian system is at breaking point."

"We call on all parties to guarantee the safety of our staff and to allow the safe, unfettered access of aid into and across Gaza through all entry points, and for world leaders to oppose further restrictions."

Israel's renewed assault has killed at least 1,691 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, bringing the overall toll since the war erupted to 51,065, most of them civilians.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.