Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah (Credit: Al Manar screen capture)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech Tuesday night in which he said the agreement demarcating the disputed maritime border with Israel will not be finished until the draft is officially signed in Naqoura.
Until then, "Hezbollah will remain cautious."
Nasrallah urged patience until the official Lebanese position on the deal is announced and the text of the agreement can be studied "with objectivity and based on a national spirit."
Nasrallah said Israel is sharply divided on the deal, even within the "same parties and ministers in the government," and that not all Israeli sides are satisfied with the agreement. He therefore called for caution on the deal until the Israeli cabinet meets on Wednesday.
Nasrallah assured that the deal was not easily reached, and that the negotiations "required a lot of work."
"Hezbollah has been preparing day and night for war. As Lebanese authorities were working on the negotiations, the resistance was preparing for the more dangerous and serious option, and we know that Israel fears the war more than we do," he threatened.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah didn't need to send more drones than the ones previously sent toward the Karish field on July 5, as "the objective was for Israel to understand that we are serious."
He offered assurances that any extracted oil and gas belongs to all of Lebanon and "does not belong to one sect, and a Lebanese fund must be set up because big hopes for the future generations are linked to this fund."
After months of negotiations led by the United States, Lebanon and Israel have reached a historic agreement demarcating their disputed maritime border, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Tuesday. Lebanese president Michel Aoun also said Tuesday he hopes the deal will be officially announced "as soon as possible."
Returning very briefly to the internal political situation in Lebanon, Nasrallah stressed that there is "nothing new" to say, reiterating his call "to all concerned to form a government" quickly. He regretted that officials are "blowing hot and cold" in this regard, oscillating between optimism and stagnation in the negotiations.
Hezbollah insists that a cabinet be formed before the end of the Aoun's presidential term on Oct. 31, while the risk of a simultaneous presidential and governmental vacancy hangs over Lebanon.