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July 26, 2022 12:06 pm
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Gantz: Israel Maintains ‘High Level of Deterrence’ Against Lebanon After Latest Threats by Hezbollah Chief

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London-based Energean’s drill ship begins drilling at the Karish natural gas field offshore Israel in the east Mediterranean May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Ari Rabinovitch

Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Tuesday that the country retains a “high level of deterrence” against Lebanon and Hezbollah, a day after the terror group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah ratcheted up a maritime border dispute by warning that his arsenal could reach targets anywhere in the Jewish state.

“Nasrallah understands that he should be deterred, but things can happen,” Gantz said at a conference held by Israel’s Channel 13 in Jerusalem, citing several drones recently launched by Hezbollah toward the Karish gas field in the Mediterranean. “If he challenges us, we will take up the gauntlet and hurt them.”

The comments came after the head of Hezbollah on Monday escalated threats to attack Israeli targets in the disputed Karish natural gas field, which is set to start extraction in September.

“If the extraction of oil and gas from Karish begins in September before Lebanon obtains its right, we would be heading to ‘a problem’ and we’ll do anything to achieve our objective,” Nasrallah cautioned in an interview on al-Mayadeen TV, according to a translation by the online portal Naharnet. “All fields are under threat, not only Karish […] no Israeli target at sea or on land is out of the reach of the resistance’s precision missiles.”

Israel maintains that the Karish field is firmly within its exclusive economic zone, which Lebanon disputes. The two countries, which have no diplomatic relations, are locked in US-facilitated negotiations to delineate their maritime border, in order to facilitate the development of offshore energy assets.

“In the last month and a half, it seems that Nasrallah is establishing the ideological and religious justification for war and setting a clear equation that will cause it to break out,” the Israeli Alma defense research center observed in a tweet.

Gantz emphasized that Israel will defend its right to extract gas while seeking to reach a solution that can avert conflict, which he said would harm the Lebanese people already suffering under an economic crisis.

“Nasrallah is trying to deflect responsibility for Lebanon’s mounting domestic economic challenges by opening a new rhetorical war of words with Israel over Karish,” Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told The Algemeiner. “But the threat to Karish generally should not be underestimated, as the Israeli security establishment has been eyeing it as a potential target by Iran itself amid the ongoing shadow war with Israel across the Middle East.”

Earlier this month, Israel intercepted several drones launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon towards the Karish gas rig. Hezbollah claimed at the time that the drones were on a reconnaissance mission, and that “the message was delivered.” Another drone that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon, which “likely” belonged to the Iran-backed terror group, was intercepted last week.

“The recent drones that the IDF downed were seeking to test Israel and were meant as a reminder of Hezbollah’s leverage,” Brodsky commented. “Nasrallah’s recent threats were a continuation of this tactic.”

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