UNIFIL refuses to define maritime borders

After Lebanon's plea to protect its gas reserve from Israeli drilling, UN seeks to determine which authority should settle dispute

Reuters | Published: 01.06.11, 08:28

WASHINGTON – The UN headquarters in New York has begun seeking expert advice on how to address the dispute developing between Israel and Lebanon over the natural gas reservoir discovered off Israel's Mediterranean coast.

UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky asserted Wednesday that marking maritime borders is not within the jurisdiction of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and that the UN would consult with experts to determine which authority should intervene in the matter.

“The mandate is very specific on what UNIFIL does, including its maritime component, and it is also fairly specific that it does not include delineating lines – maritime lines,” Nesirky said.

Lebanon has asked the United Nations to protect the country's gas reserves along the maritime border with Israel, after the discovery of the huge gas field.

The appeal was part of a growing dispute between the two over natural resources beneath the eastern Mediterranean.

'Lebanon interests need protection'

The UN demarcated the land border separating Israel and Lebanon in 2000, but there is no official naval border separating the warring countries. In recent months, Lebanon has accused Israel of drilling in fields that extend into Lebanon, an allegation Israel denies.

"Some of the discovered wells are in joint fields between Lebanon" and Israel, Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali Shami said late Tuesday in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, urging that Lebanese interests be protected.

Lebanon has not released evidence that Israel's gas finds extend into Lebanese territory, though it says it sent maps to the UN in 2010 proving this.

Last week, Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. announced that an estimated 16 trillion cubic feet of natural gas were found in a field off Israel's Mediterranean coast.

Noble Energy maps show the fields to be entirely within Israel's territorial waters.

The militant Hezbollah group, which is part of the Lebanese government, has accused Israel of stealing gas from Lebanon and vowed to defend Lebanese resources with an arsenal of thousands of rockets like the ones it rained on Israel during a 2006 war.