Nasrallah warns Israel and Greek firm, urges 'unified' Lebanese stance

W460

Lebanon should block Israel from extracting gas from the disputed offshore field, Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday, warning a hydrocarbon exploration company hired by Israel against proceeding with its activities.

"The immediate objective should be to prevent the enemy from extracting oil and gas from the Karish gas field," part of which is claimed by Lebanon, Nasrallah said in a televised speech.

Hizbullah will not "stand by and do nothing in the face of (Israel's) looting of Lebanon's natural wealth... which is the only hope for the salvation of the Lebanese people," he warned.

Nasrallah's remarks are his first since a gas production vessel operated by London-listed Energean Plc arrived in the Karish gas field on Sunday.

He said extraction should halt pending the completion of maritime border negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, and warned Energean against proceeding.

The company "should pull out its ship immediately and avoid getting involved in this aggression and provocation against Lebanon," the head of the powerful Iran-backed movement said, adding that Energean must assume "full responsibility" for its involvement.

“The resistance has the technical ability to prevent the enemy from extracting gas from Karish and I will not say how,” Nasrallah added.

“All of the enemy's measures will not be able to protect the Greek ship or the Karish field,” he warned.

Nasrallah, however, stressed that “Lebanon needs a unified and major popular stance” to support any move.

“When the enemy sees the vast majority of the Lebanese people clinging to this fortune, its calculations will become different,” he said.

“If the state picks the choice of negotiations, the state, the resistance, the army and the people should stand by the Lebanese negotiating team to strengthen its stance and give it strength,” Nasrallah added.

“The resistance does not claim that it is the sole protector of Lebanon, that's why we call for the army-people-resistance equation,” he went on to say.

“All of the resistance's options are on the table and without any hesitation,” Nasrallah emphasized.

Noting that “resistance is one of the choices that the Lebanese state and people have in this confrontation over the oil fortune,” Hizbullah’s leader added that “if the enemy understands that this is a unifying national cause, we might not be obliged to engage in an adventure.”

Following the ship's arrival, Lebanese authorities on Monday called for U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein to visit Beirut to relaunch maritime border negotiations.

Parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said Hochstein was due to arrive “on Sunday or Monday,” but there has been no official confirmation from Washington.

On Thursday, President Michel Aoun said that Lebanon would ask Hochstein to "resume efforts to relaunch indirect negotiations" with Israel.

Lebanon wants a deal that would allow it to "invest in its offshore oil and gas resources and safeguard security and stability in the border area," Aoun said in a statement.

His comments came a day after Israel restated its view that Karish "is a strategic asset of the state of Israel" and stressed it was "prepared to defend" the site.

Lebanon and Israel last fought a war in 2006, have no diplomatic relations and are separated by a U.N.-patrolled border.

They had resumed negotiations over their maritime frontier in 2020 but the process was stalled by Lebanon’s claim that the map used by the United Nations in the talks needed modifying.

Lebanon initially demanded 860 square kilometers (330 square miles) of territory in the disputed maritime area but then asked for an additional 1,430 square kilometers, including part of Karish.

Timeline
  • 09 June 2022, 21:43

    Nasrallah: If the enemy understands that this is a unifying national cause, we might not be obliged to engage in an adventure, and a lot is hinging on this.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:40

    Nasrallah: The Greek company must withdraw the ship immediately and it will bear the responsibility for what may happen to the ship materially or regarding its crew.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:29

    Nasrallah: The resistance today is one of the choices the Lebanese state and people have in this confrontation over the oil fortune.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:25

    Nasrallah: I call on the Greek firm to immediately withdraw the ship.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:24

    Nasrallah: The enemy must wait for the outcome of the negotiations and the Greek firm must know that they are partners in aggressing against Lebanon in what is happening now.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:24

    Nasrallah: Karish is a joint field and any gas extraction must stop.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:23

    Nasrallah: The Lebanese people should clearly tell the Israelis to halt their activities.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:22

    Nasrallah: When the enemy threatens war, it must know that the resistance does not fear war.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:22

    Nasrallah: All of the resistance's options are on the table and without any hesitation.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:22

    Nasrallah: The resistance cannot stand idly by in the face of the looting of Lebanon's resources.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:21

    Nasrallah: The resistance's role is to contribute to protecting Lebanon.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:20

    Nasrallah: We don't mind if the army defends Lebanon's resources.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:20

    Nasrallah: The resistance does not claim that it is the sole protector of Lebanon, that's why we call for the army-people-resistance equation.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:18

    Nasrallah: Should the state pick the choice of negotiations, the state, the resistance, the army and the people should stand by the Lebanese negotiating team to strengthen its stance and give it strength.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:13

    Nasrallah: These days and hours are for unity and solidarity.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:10

    Nasrallah: Lebanon is not weak and this is not 1982.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:10

    Nasrallah: When the enemy sees the vast majority of the Lebanese people clinging to this fortune, its calculations will become different.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:08

    Nasrallah: Lebanon needs a unified and major popular stance.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:07

    Nasrallah: Israel's intimidation should not scare anyone at all.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:07

    Nasrallah: The enemy knows that it will lose more than Lebanon in any war.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:07

    Nasrallah: The enemy's threats are not new.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:06

    Nasrallah: All of the enemy's measures will not be able to protect the Greek ship or the Karish field.

  • 09 June 2022, 21:05

    Nasrallah: The resistance has the technical ability to prevent the enemy from extracting gas from Karish and I will not say how.

Comments 6
Thumb EagleDawn 09 June 2022, 22:21

The day this evil Iranian sectarian terrorist is brutally and violently murdered is the day we celebrate our true independence.

Thumb i.report 10 June 2022, 01:09

Deo Gratias

شكر الله بيسوع المسيح ربنا. اذا انا نفسي بذهني اخدم ناموس الله ولكن بالجسد ناموس الخطية

Thumb lubnani.masi7i 10 June 2022, 10:08

"Geageas plan was to give the natural resources for free to the Israelis."

If you have Geagea's plan on a USB, can you please email it to me?

Thumb Mystic 10 June 2022, 10:48

It is no secret that the Resistance are the only ones standing between Israel and the extraction of our natural resources.
Geagea wants to get rid of the resistance to give the Israelis free passage. Yes this is a fact, we know Geageas schemes, they date back to the 80s. Nothing new

Missing samiam 10 June 2022, 10:58

Jist of speech

blah blah blah resistance

while of course hiding in his undisclosed underground bunker....

So brave with his words.....

But he says nothing about Syria trying take our oil and gas in the north---what do we call that again? Oh yeah, HYPOCRISY.

Missing phillipo 10 June 2022, 11:56

Nasrallah: The enemy knows that it will lose more than Lebanon in any war. He of course is speaking from experience!!!!