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Drilling for natural gas
Photo: Reuters

Israel sends drones over gas fields

Defense official says drones deployed over Mediterranean following threats of attack from Hezbollah

Air Force drones are patrolling the skies over Israel's gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea due to security concerns, a defense official said Tuesday.

 

The deployment comes in the wake of new threats from Hezbollah.

 

 

Israel and Lebanon have not agreed on a maritime border, and Israel's recent gas discoveries in the Mediterranean have created a new source of friction between the two countries.

 

The official would not specify the nature of the concerns or disclose when the unmanned aircraft began operating or how many were in the air. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the operation of the drones.

 

Over the past two years, Israel has discovered two gas fields thought to contain enough gas to keep it energy self-sufficient for decades. Lebanon does not claim these fields but energy companies think there might be gas in nearby waters claimed by both countries.

 

Hezbollah has threatened to use force to protect what it says is Lebanon's natural wealth.

 

"We warn Israel not to touch this area or try to steal Lebanon's resources," Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned last month. "Those who harm our installations will have their own installations harmed," he said.

 

Israel has said it would use force to defend its gas fields if they are attacked.

 

In most cases, countries negotiate their maritime border, as Israel did several months ago with Cyprus. Because Israel and Lebanon have no diplomatic relations, both countries have submitted competing boundaries to the United Nations.

 

Lebanon's proposal would place the border south of Israel's line.

 

Still, Lebanese and Israeli leaders believe that they can avoid conflict over the disputed maritime border, a senior United Nations official said.

 

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said signals he had received from the two countries – "from the prime minister's office in both cases" – suggested they were seeking to avoid confrontation.

 

"Neither of them are looking for a scrap on this... On the contrary they think they can de-conflict it," he said.

 

Williams, who visited Israel last week, said his talks showed there was "no magical solution" to the disagreement.

 

But Israel did "not want to let this move towards dispute and might even be in favor of some sort of outside involvement" to resolve the maritime border, although it had not asked the United Nations to mediate.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.09.11, 16:52
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