Lebanon warned the United Nations on Monday that Israel's proposed sea border threatens peace and security, as tensions rise between the neighbors over offshore oil and gas reserves.
Lebanon
warned the United Nations on Monday that
Israel
's
proposed sea border threatens peace and security, as tensions rise between the
neighbors over offshore oil and gas reserves.
"Foreign Minister Adnan Mansur has sent a letter to U.N. Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon rejecting geographic coordinates
Israel
submitted to the United Nations concerning the northern part of the waters it
claims," said the ministry.
It said in a statement that the Israeli claim "infringes on
Lebanon
's
Exclusive Economic Zone," a sea zone that gives a state the right to
explore its maritime resources.
"This is a clear violation of
Lebanon
's
rights... over an area of some 860 square kilometers, and puts international
peace and security at risk," it said, adding, "We urge the secretary
general to take all necessary measures to avoid conflict."
Lebanon
and
Israel
,
which remain technically at war, locked horns over the maritime border after
the discovery of potential offshore energy reserves.
The Israeli cabinet in July approved a map and submitted it to the U.N., which
has been asked to mediate the growing conflict.
The Israeli map conflicts with
Lebanon
's
proposed borders, which give the Jewish state less territorial waters and was
submitted to the U.N. last year.
Beirut
argues its map is in line with an armistice accord
drawn up in 1949, an agreement which is not contested by
Israel
.
Israel
--arch-enemy
of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah--has for months been moving to
develop several large offshore natural gas fields in the eastern
Mediterranean
, some
of which are shared with
Cyprus
.
Lebanon
's
Hezbollah-dominated government has meanwhile warned
Beirut
will
not give up its maritime rights and accuses
Israel
of
violating Lebanese waters, territory and airspace.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah fought a deadly war with
Israel
in
2006 which destroyed much of
Lebanon
's
major infrastructure and killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mainly civilians, and
160 Israelis, mainly soldiers.
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