"I contend that for a nation to try and tax itself into prosperity, is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." -- Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
Earlier in the day, Israel said that it would reject Lebanon's amendments to a US-brokered proposal on resolving a long-running maritime border dispute over gas-rich waters off the countries' Mediterranean coasts.
The IDF has been put on standby in the north after Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned of a possible escalation with Lebanon, as talks on a maritime border deal have apparently fallen through.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly lashed out at the US over its brokering of a deal between Israel and Lebanon to resolve a maritime dispute, claiming that the American involvement amounted to election interference, according to a Sunday television report.
The Kan public broadcaster reported that Netanyahu alleged in private talks that the Biden administration was attempting to interfere in the November 1 elections.
An emerging deal brokered by the U.S. to resolve a maritime border dispute between Israel and its neighboring state Lebanon has been panned as “dangerous” by critics, including former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while current Israeli leader Yair Lapid has hailed the deal, as has Hezbollah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Following an announcement on Saturday by Lebanese President Michel Aoun regarding U.S. proposals for the demarcation of a maritime border with Israel, Nasrallah said that Lebanon would be the ultimate decision-maker in the agreement.
'The 16th September was the 40th anniversary of the appalling massacre at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. Dr Swee Ang was there, in the thick of it, doing what she could for the victims..." >>
On July 12, 2006, Hezbollah took three Israeli soldiers hostage, hoping to trade their release for that of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners. Instead, Israel launched a massive military operation aimed at neutralizing Hezbollah.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday said Iran was attempting to “buy” Lebanon by having it rely on the Hezbollah terror group for fuel and repairing the country’s failing power network.
“Iran, through Hezbollah, is trying to buy Lebanon by supplying fuel, repairing the electricity system and building power plants,” Gantz said at an event in the northern town of Katzrin.
Iran is ready to send ships loaded with fuel to Lebanon within one or two weeks to help run the country's power plants, the Iranian embassy in Beirut told Al-Manar TV as a Lebanese delegation was in Tehran to discuss energy cooperation.
Israel has raised the state of alert and ordered its troops to prepare for any scenario following Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s threats to target the offshore Karish gas drilling rig, Israeli media reported.
On Saturday, Nasrallah said that Israel’s extraction of gas from the Karish gas field before Lebanon obtained its rights is a “red line.”
US Envoy for Energy Affairs Amos Hochstein with Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib, left, in Beirut, Lebanon, June 14, 2022. (AP/Bilal Hussein)