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BEIRUT, July 4 (AP) Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister on Monday criticized militant group Hezbollah for sending three drones over an Israeli gas facility last week, calling it an unnecessary risky move.
Najib Mikati’s comments came two days after Hezbollah launched three drones over the Karish gas field in the Mediterranean.
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The Israeli military said on Saturday it had shot down three drones, before Hezbollah issued a statement saying they were unarmed and sent on reconnaissance missions. “Mission accomplished and information received,” Hezbollah said.
Lebanon claims the Karish gas field is disputed territory in ongoing maritime border negotiations, while Israel says it lies within its internationally recognized economic waters.
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Lebanon’s foreign minister, Abdullah Bouhabib, quoted Mikati’s statement as saying: “Lebanon believes that any action that goes beyond the national framework and diplomatic context during negotiations is unacceptable and will expose it to inconvenience. necessary risk.”
Israel and Hezbollah, sworn enemies, fought a month-long war in the summer of 2006. Israel considers the group to be the most serious direct threat and estimates it has around 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.
The Karish gas field incident comes shortly after U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein’s recent visit to Lebanese and Israeli officials and negotiations are underway.
Mikati told reporters on Saturday that Lebanon had received “encouraging information” about the border dispute, but declined to comment until he had received “a formal written response to advice from the Lebanese side.”
Negotiations between Lebanon and Israel to define their maritime borders began in October 2020, when the two sides held indirect U.S.-brokered talks in southern Lebanon. Since taking over mediation in late 2021, Hochstein has used shuttle diplomacy to visit Beirut and Jerusalem.
The two countries, which have been at official war since the founding of Israel in 1948, both claim some 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of the Mediterranean Sea. Lebanon wants to develop offshore gas reserves as it grapples with the worst economic crisis in modern history. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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