An Israeli Navy vessel is moored at the Mediterranean sea in northern Israel's Rosh Hanikra bordering Lebanon, Oct. 7, 2022. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)
JERUSALEM, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday instructed the defense establishment to prepare for any possible escalation with Lebanon hours after Israel rejected Lebanon's amendments to the U.S.-brokered proposal for demarcating a maritime border.
"In light of the developments in the maritime border negotiations with Lebanon ... Gantz instructed the defense establishment to prepare for any scenario in which tensions increase in the northern arena, including defensive and offensive readiness," his office said in a statement.
The instruction was made following a situational assessment with Israel's security chiefs, his office noted, adding Israel's security cabinet held a meeting later in the day to discuss the U.S.-mediated proposal Israel received last week.
Last week, U.S. energy envoy Amos Hochstein sent Israel and Lebanon a draft of an agreement on a maritime line between the two countries. The dispute concerns an area of some 860 square km of the Mediterranean Sea.
Earlier on Thursday, a senior official with Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid told Xinhua that Lapid was "updated on the details of the new substantial changes that Lebanon is seeking to make in the agreement, and ordered the (Israeli) negotiating team to reject them."
The official added the prime minister will not compromise Israel's security and economic interests "even if it means that there will be no agreement soon."
Following Israel's rejection, Lebanon's leading negotiator Elias Bou Saab said the U.S.-mediated deal is at a "make or break" point.
Bou Saab, also Lebanon's deputy parliament speaker, said that he has contacted Hochstein to remove the emerging obstacles to the deal, Elnashra news website reported.
According to Israeli media, a major point of dispute between Israel and Lebanon was Lapid's announcement that Israel will receive some of the revenues from Lebanese extraction in the Qana field, located partially in the disputed area.
Lebanese authorities are trying to end a dispute with Israel over maritime borders, which has escalated after Israel on June 5 sent a vessel to the Karish field, which Israel claims is within its economic zone, while Lebanon claims in disputed waters. ■
A warning sign is seen by the sea in northern Israel's Rosh Hanikra bordering Lebanon, Oct. 7, 2022. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)
An Israeli Navy vessel is moored at the Mediterranean sea in northern Israel's Rosh Hanikra bordering Lebanon, Oct. 7, 2022. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)
Photo taken on Oct. 7, 2022 shows a sea view in northern Israel's Rosh Hanikra bordering Lebanon. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)
