Gantz says keen on deal with Lebanon, warns against 'Hezbollah escalation'

Israel is keen to make a deal with Lebanon regarding the maritime border, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in a meeting with U.N. diplomats in New York on Tuesday.

“The State of Israel is interested in progressing maritime border negotiations with Lebanon,” Gantz said. “In the end, there will be two gas rigs, one Israeli and one Lebanese. The question is whether we can reach this scenario without an unnecessary escalation as a result of Hezbollah threats,” he added, according to English-language remarks published by Israel’s Jerusalem Post.

“Establishing a rig on the Lebanese side is in the interest of Lebanon, whose residents do not have a regular electricity supply and are experiencing a devastating economic crisis,” he said, explaining that Israel will also capitalize on its resources.

Gantz warned that Israel would not tolerate any threat by Hezbollah to its security and called on the U.N. Security Council to condemn “any violation of Israeli sovereignty” by the group.

“We must advance the negotiations, strengthen the stability and prosperity in the region and prevent an escalation that will first of all harm the citizens of Lebanon and the Lebanese state, and bring us back to the start," the Israeli minister added.