Lebanese officials vow to defend their legitimate rights amid fresh Israeli threats

Tabnak – As the US administration has considerably intensified its pressures against resistance movements in the region, the war of words between Israel and Lebanon has also heated up over the past few days. Israeli officials are continuing their threats of starting a new war against Hezbollah. 

On Wednesday, Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Avigdor Lieberman warned international companies not to engage in exploration activities with Lebanon. He claimed that giant international energy companies who have been bidding on a Lebanese tender for offshore activities on the Levant Basin were “making a grave error.”

Reacting to these remarks, Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah vowed to defend the rights of the country in oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean region against any new Israeli aggression. Hezbollah said Lieberman’s comments were “a new aggression”, warning that it would “decisively confront any assault on our oil and gas rights."

Separately, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri accused Israel of a blatant attempt to put international companies off bidding for oil and gas rights in the country. He slammed the Israeli minister's statement as a "blatant provocation that Lebanon rejects.”

Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil also said that he had highlighted the case with the United Nations two weeks ago when he sent a letter affirming Lebanon’s right to defend itself and its economic interests.

Lebanon sits on the Levant Basin in the eastern Mediterranean where a number of large sub-sea gas fields have been discovered since 2009, including the Leviathan and Tamar fields located in Israeli waters near the nations' disputed marine border.

However, in new provocative claims, Liberman threated Lebanon of a new war, saying that Beirut would “pay the full price” for its ties with Tehran in such a military offensive. He accused Lebanon and the resistance movement Hezbollah of “subjugating fully to Iran,” warning that as a result, all of Lebanon will be fair game in a future war.

“Lebanon’s army and Hezbollah are the same — they will all pay the full price in the event of an escalation,” Lieberman said, adding that “If a conflict does break out in the north, ‘boots on the ground’ remains an option.” 

In November 2017, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia has appealed to the Israeli regime to launch a military onslaught against Lebanon in the name of fighting Hezbollah, and is ready to spend billions of dollars to attain this objective.

On the other hand, despite the Israeli threats, the US has promised it will continue to support Lebanon’s military. “We will sustain our efforts to support legitimate state security institutions in Lebanon, such as the Lebanese Armed Forces, which is the only legitimate force in Lebanon,” said David Satterfield, acting assistant US secretary of state, according to the Independent. 

It should be noted that Lebanon views Israel as an enemy. More than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in 2006 when Israel launched an all-out aggression against Lebanon.