BEIRUT: The spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Tuesday that its jurisdiction does not include the demarcation of sea borders between Lebanon and Israel, after the Lebanese military asked UNIFIL to get involved in the offshore oil affair.
“There has never been any demarcation of the sea borders between Lebanon and Israel,” Andrea Tenenti told the National News Agency Tuesday. “The UNIFIL is not tasked with this demarcation.”
Tenenti’s comments come in light of a controversy surrounding Lebanon’s offshore oil and gas, and Israel’s suspicious activities inside the area that Lebanon considers its Exclusive Economic Zone.
The EEZs claimed by Israel and Lebanon overlap, and Lebanese officials accuse Israel of drilling to extract oil from an area Beirut says is its own.
Tenenti said that when Israel’s army withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, it unilaterally drew a line in the sea that neither Lebanon nor the U.N. has recognized.
Last week, a Lebanese Army commander urged UNIFIL to look into Israeli activity near Lebanon’s waters during a tripartite meeting with senior officials from the Lebanese and Israeli militaries.
The Army delegate also called on UNIFIL forces to asses any activity in the area to determine its nature and legality.
Lebanese officials have accused Israel of infringing upon a roughly 850 square kilometer area of sea that Lebanon considers within its EEZ.
Last August, the Lebanese government postponed for the fifth time the first round of licensing for offshore gas exploration due to political disagreements.
The dispute was over the designation of blocs open for bidding and the terms of a draft exploration and production agreement.
Experts had warned that some international companies were re-evaluating the situation in light of the repeated delays of the licensing round.
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