Hizbullah Threatens To ‘Sever’ Israel’s Hands Over Drilling
Lebanon’s Hizbullah has threatened to “sever” Israel’s hands over its work at an offshore gas field in Mediterranean Sea waters claimed by Lebanon. Hizbullah chief Hasan Nasrallah warned Israel on Tuesday during a televised speech that “the hand that reaches for any of this wealth will be severed.” He added: “Lebanon’s oil, gas and water resources must remain under its control and no one should be allowed to rob the country.” Israel in June moved a new drilling platform to the Karish drilling site. In July, Israel’s military said it intercepted the three drones launched by Hizbullah heading for Karish, in disputed territorial waters between Israel and Lebanon. Israel and Lebanon have for years disputed their maritime borders, with Lebanon expanding that border discrepancy last year. Meanwhile, Turkey has resumed offshore gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean Sea after a hiatus of two years. The Abdullhamid Han drillship set sail on Tuesday for waters that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a ceremony are “within our sovereign territory.” Though the area that Turkey will drill for gas in has not been specified, it is speculated that it will be in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone. Turkey does not recognize Cyprus as a sovereign state that is entitled to its own zone. Turkey argues that some of the waters around the island are part of Turkey’s continental shelf. The European Union imposed sanctions on Turkey after it dispatched a drilling ship to waters near Cyprus in July 2019. Turkey then halted offshore gas explorations in December 2020, shortly after the EU threatened further economic sanctions.
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