London-based Energean’s drill ship begins drilling at the Karish gas field in the east Mediterranean on May 9, 2022. (Credit: Ari Rabinovitch/Reuters)
BEIRUT — Israel's defense, foreign and energy ministers on Wednesday said in a joint statement amid tensions regarding the arrival of a floating production, storage and offloading unit from the power company Energean arrived over the weekend in the disputed Karish field which Israel considers in its economic zone, that their country is “ready to defend its strategic assets,” in response to statements by Lebanese and Hezbollah officials since the arrival of this gas ship.
Here’s what we know:
• "The platform is a strategic asset of the state of Israel and aims to extract energy resources and natural gas in the Economic Zone of Israel and to advance Israel’s green economy," said Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid and Karine ElHarrar on Twitter. They also pointed out that the unit's anchorage is "in Israeli territory, several kilometers south of the area over which negotiations are taking place between Israel and Lebanon, mediated by the United States." The unit "will not pump gas from the disputed area,” they continued.
• The ministers also called on Lebanon “to speed up the negotiations on the maritime border,” adding, "Localizing gas energy sources can greatly help Lebanon's economy and citizens and it is in its interest to advance dialogue on this issue."
• On Monday, Lebanon sent an invitation to the American mediator of the Lebanese-Israeli maritime borders negotiations Amos Hochstein, who’s also an Israeli citizen, to come to Lebanon. During a Parliament session Tuesday, Speaker Nabih Berri claimed that the envoy is expected in Beirut on "Sunday or Monday.” However, the United States Department spokesman Ned Price replied to saying that no visit to Lebanon is planned at this time.