{"id":2381,"date":"2022-07-27T12:46:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T12:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depthtrade.com\/?p=2381"},"modified":"2022-10-21T13:46:47","modified_gmt":"2022-10-21T13:46:47","slug":"gas-dispute-in-the-middle-east-could-potentially-lead-to-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost\/depth\/gas-dispute-in-the-middle-east-could-potentially-lead-to-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Gas Dispute in the Middle East could potentially lead to War"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Israel and Lebanon have been at odds over an offshore gas dispute for some time now. However, the situation has taken a turn for the worse, with Hezbollah now threatening to attack Israel if it begins producing oil and gas without an agreement. This has led to fears of a potential outbreak of war in the Middle East, which could have disastrous consequences for the entire region. It is therefore imperative that a resolution is found soon, before the situation spirals out of control.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A significant new dispute between Israel and its northern neighbor Lebanon over gas production rights along the two countries’ Mediterranean coasts was reported to be escalating in June by a number of media outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the long-running dispute between the two countries over the precise location of their maritime boundary has been somewhat uninteresting recently, a fresh rift is just now starting to form in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hezbollah leader Sheikh Nasrallah reiterates his warnings<\/strong> Lebanon’s Christian president, Michel Aoun, had also previously warned the Israeli government that bilateral negotiations on the exact course of the maritime border between the two nations had not yet been brought to a conclusion. Thus, should Israel begin drilling in the Karish offshore gas field on its own, such action on the part of Israel would be considered a “hostile act” by the government of President Michel Aoun. Meanwhile, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has reiterated his warning that all Israeli gas fields off their shared coast are at risk of becoming Hezbollah targets. He also said that his organization would not shy away from firing on various Israeli targets on land, including civilian targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hezbollah’s missile arsenal<\/strong> The last military conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon took place in 2006. Hezbollah forced the Israelis to withdraw from southern Lebanon, severely damaging the nimbus of invincibility that had preceded the Israeli army Zahal in the Middle East up to that point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For a good two years now, emissaries of the U.S. government have been attempting to contribute to a mediated solution of the conflict between the two nations in various mediation talks – so far without any success. The outbreak of a new war in the Middle East is not his declared goal, as Sheik Hassan Nasrallah explained. Nevertheless, Hezbollah continues to keep up the pressure on the Israeli and American sides in order to achieve its own country’s goals without any ifs or buts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both countries lay claim to a sea triangle measuring a good 330 square miles off their respective coastal areas. This is a major point of contention between the two nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Has a new level of escalation been reached?<\/strong> \u201cIf the extraction of oil and gas from Karish begins in September before Lebanon obtains its right, we would be heading to \u2018a problem\u2019 and we\u2019ll do anything to achieve our objective,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n For its part, Israel has increased<\/a> its own defense preparedness in the region. In the process, Israeli military forces were also placed on heightened alert. In the same breath, the Israeli government warned Hezbollah’s leadership against harsh retaliation by its own forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel believes that an outbreak of war is likely, due to Hezbollah’s threats<\/strong> On Israeli television, Yaakov Amidor, the former chairman of the National Security Council, said that if there is no agreement between the two sides by the targeted date of a start of production in the Karish offshore gas field, war will most likely break out in the regions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier in July, Israeli forces shot down three Hezbollah drones believed to be on their way to the Karish offshore gas field. Bringing the mediation talks, which are continuing, to a successful conclusion is likely to prove a difficult undertaking, because the mediator, Amos Hochstein, was born in Israel and later emigrated to the United States, and once served in the Israeli armed forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, recently warned the Israeli government against deploying a gas rig off the coast of Lebanon. If this warning is not heeded by the Israelis, an attack by Hezbollah and destruction of this gas rig must be expected, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hezbollah has an extensive arsenal of precision missiles at its disposal, which it has been building up for many years. For example the Zelzal-2, with a range of 210 km and a warhead weighing 600 kg<\/a>, as well as multiple other missile types. No target in Israel is safe from these missiles. <\/p>\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
International observers recognize in the warnings reiterated the day before yesterday by Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah with regard to the Karish offshore gas field that a new stage of escalation has been reached between the two countries. The Hezbollah leader was quoted as saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hezbollah has more than 100,000 precision missiles and hundreds of military drones aimed at strategic targets in its own country, which includes public facilities, private buildings, and Israeli gas rigs off the coast. Israeli Major General Yitzhak Brik stated that it is only a matter of time before Hezbollah brings its arsenal of weapons to bear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n