Alwaght- Lebanon's President Michel Aoun on Monday has said the country's army is ready to confront the Israeli regime amid Tel Aviv's provocations.
President Aoun made the remarks when he visited the command center of the Lebanese Armed Forces in Yarze where he met with military chief General Joseph Aoun and reviewed the current security situation in the country. The meeting was also attended by a brass of senior officers and unit chiefs.
During the meeting Aoun heaped praise on the army efforts to protect stability and defend the country in its confrontation with the Israeli enemy and terrorism.
Aoun reiterated “Lebanon’s official and popular support for the army preparedness along the southern borders to guarantee Lebanon rights to its border and maritime borders, and to invest in its entire oil and economic resources; preserving stability in that area all the while, in cooperation and in coordination with the UNIFIL, in implementation of resolution 1701.”
Earlier this month, Lebanon signed its first contracts to explore two offshore zones for oil and gas.
However, Lebanon face many challenges in this context, as the Israeli regime claims the “right” to Block 9, a triangle off the Lebanese coast that is around 860 square kilometers.
In December, the cabinet of Prime Minister Saad Hariri granted licenses to a consortium of three international companies -- Italy’s Eni, France’s Total and Russia’s Novatek -- to carry out exploratory drilling in Lebanon’s Block 4 and Block 9 territorial waters and determine whether they contain oil and gas reserves.
The announcement infuriated the Israeli entity, which claims sovereignty over Block 9.
“When they issue a tender on a gas field, including Block 9, which by any standard is ours ... this is very, very challenging and provocative conduct here,” said Israeli regime’s war minister, Avigdor Lieberman.
Lebanon's' Hezbollah resistance movement has maintained that the statements made by the Zionist war minister Avigdor Lieberman reflect the Israeli greed for seizing Lebanon resources, adding that they come in the context of enemy’s continuous aggression on the Lebanese sovereignty and legitimate rights.
Hezbollah expressed its support to the stances made by the Lebanese senior officials against Lieberman’s remarks and reiterated firmly and unequivocally confronting any aggression on Lebanon’s gas and oil resources and defending the country’s facilities.
