Lebanon gas dispute tops agenda of Israeli PM Yair Lapid Paris visit

• Israeli PM Yair Lapid will ask French President Emmanuel Macron for help in a gas dispute with Lebanon.
• Israel and Lebanon are at odds over an offshore gas field in the eastern Mediterranean.
• Iran’s support for Hezbollah will also be discussed during his trip to France.

 TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid will undertake his first international trip as premier on Tuesday, travelling to Paris to ask French President Emmanuel Macron for help in a gas dispute with Lebanon.

Israel will return to the polls in November for its fifth election in less than four years. After the collapse of Israel’s coalition government, Lapid assumed the PM role on Friday.

The next day, Lebanon’s Hezbollah organisation launched three drones toward an offshore gas field in the eastern Mediterranean, presenting the aspiring leader with his first test.

Lapid stated on Sunday, “Hezbollah is continuing on the path of terrorism and is hurting Lebanon’s ability to reach an agreement on a maritime border.”

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Lebanon denies Israel’s allegation that the Karish gas field is situated within its territorial waters.

Israel and Lebanon started talking about the maritime border again in 2020, even though the Karish site is outside the disputed area and was marked as Israeli on older UN maps.

Beirut’s insistence that the United Nations maps be amended has halted US-backed negotiations.

Iran’s support for Hezbollah will also be discussed at the bilateral talks in Paris, as Israel opposes international efforts to resurrect a nuclear agreement with Tehran.

Israeli authorities are concerned that granting Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme could allow Tehran to increase funding for Hezbollah and Hamas.

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