President Michel Aoun (center) meets with Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh (left of Aoun) on June 24, 2022. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT – President Michel Aoun met on Friday with the head of Hamas' political bureau Ismail Haniyeh, who expressed “solidarity” with Lebanon in the maritime border dispute with Israel, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• Haniyeh said he assured Aoun of Hamas’ “refusal of the Israeli enemy’s theft of Lebanon’s maritime resources”
• Tensions between Lebanon and Israel were rekindled recently after Israel deployed a production, storage and offloading vessel to the disputed Karish offshore gas field.
• It is Haniyeh’s third day in Beirut. The Hamas head met with Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday.