Lebanon Denies Receiving Israeli Warning Via U.S. on Oil, Gas Fields

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour denied that Lebanon has received an Israeli warning through Washington on the maritime boundary line between the two countries and the conflict over huge oil and natural gas reserves.

In remarks to An Nahar daily Monday, Mansour said that Washington hasn’t warned Lebanon about anything linked to the issue.

His denial came after the Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted a foreign ministry official as saying that Israel asked the U.S. several months ago to relay a warning to Lebanon that it would not accept the oil issue from becoming a source of tension between Israel and Lebanon.

Israeli foreign ministry officials told U.S. envoy Frederic Hof that Israel would not allow a provocation on the matter or an attack on Israeli gas installations, Haaretz said.

The officials added that Israel would consider such an attack as an assault on its sovereign territory and would retaliate "strongly" against Lebanon.

The two countries are staking claims for a demarcation line in the Mediterranean Sea, where significant energy reserves have been found in recent years.