Drone operation over Karish gas field had ‘quick effect’ on demarcation talks with Israel

A senior Hezbollah official says the three drones the Lebanese resistance group sent to the Karish gas field last week had a “quick effect” on the course of maritime border demarcation talks between Lebanon and Lebanon. the Israeli regime.
Hezbollah announced last Saturday that it had sent three unarmed drones of varying sizes to the disputed Karish field area in the eastern Mediterranean to carry out reconnaissance missions.
“The mission has been accomplished,” said the resistance movement at the time.
On Saturday, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, a senior member of Hezbollah’s executive council, noted that the operation delivered a message “at the right time and place and had a rapid effect”.
“It was a hundred percent patriotic message,” Qaouk said, adding, “Drones have thrown the Israeli enemy into new equations and calculations, and the post-drone era is not like the pre-drone era.” .
In the aftermath of the drone operation, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said he expected his country and the Israeli regime to reach an agreement in September.
Bou Habib said information obtained from US and UN officials suggests progress has been made in the negotiations.
US senior energy security adviser Amos Hochstein traveled to the region to facilitate indirect talks between Lebanon and Israel, as they do not have formal diplomatic relations.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun later said that “the issue of border demarcation will soon be finalized”.
“If things weren’t positive, Beirut would have stopped the negotiations,” Aoun said in an interview with OTV. “We will reach a solution in a short period of time, and I think we have reached an agreement with the Americans who are mediating with Israel.”
Meanwhile, Qaouk called on Lebanese diplomats to defend Lebanon’s position in the talks and block interference and dictates from other countries’ embassies.
“When Lebanon’s resources are threatened by the enemy, it is not acceptable to submit to [the will of] an ambassador, whoever that ambassador is,” he said.
The Hezbollah official further said that the resistance group is a strategic national treasure that protects the Arab country and preserves its glory.
“He carried out his duty in a way that serves the interests of the Lebanese people and preserves their dignity and resources,” he added.
Hezbollah warned last month that it was “ready” to act if the Lebanese government confirmed that Israel was violating the country’s maritime rights.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has warned that the resistance will “not remain silent” in the face of the Israeli regime’s efforts to plunder Lebanon’s gas resources.
“Faced with the plundering of Lebanon’s resources, the resistance cannot remain silent,” Nasrallah said, adding that all options are on the table for the resistance, whose main role is to “preserve the land, the waters, the oil , gas and the dignity of Lebanon”. .”
Early last month, a natural gas storage and production vessel operated by British company Energean arrived at the Karish field, about 80 kilometers west of the port city of Haifa.
The Tel Aviv regime claims that the field in question falls within its so-called exclusive economic zone while Beirut rejects this claim.
The sea line between Lebanon and Israel spans an area of the Mediterranean Sea spanning approximately 860 square kilometers. Block 9 is rich in oil and gas. Israel is heavily dependent on gas and has long been developing a number of busy offshore gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea.
The two sides held several rounds of talks to demarcate their maritime boundaries and resolve the decades-long dispute, but to no avail.