Israel Violated Lebanon’s Sovereignty 7,000 Times in 2010
“Concerns in Lebanon today are due to Israeli intervention,” Shami said. Shami, nonetheless, voiced optimism over reaching a solution to the Lebanon crisis by Syria and Saudi Arabia.
The United Nations on Wednesday declined Lebanon’s request to protect the country’s natural gas reserves by demarcating its maritime border with Israel.
Shami sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last Tuesday urging him to prevent Israel from exploiting Lebanon’s oil and maritime wealth. He presented the UN with maps to support Lebanon’s facts regarding these apparent borders.
But UN spokesman Martin Nesirsky said in response to the request that the international body was not prepared to intervene in the dispute. The United Nations demarcated the land border separating Israel and Lebanon in 2000, but there is no official naval border.
“Security Council Resolution 1701 does not include delineating the maritime border,” Nesirky said. “We are talking about two different things – coastal waters and a disputed maritime border.”
Jan. 6, 2011