Exclusive to LBCI: story behind Israeli Navy’s request to cooperate with Lebanese Navy

Lebanese military sources told LBCI Friday that Israelis called more than once for a direct contact between the Israeli Navy and the Lebanese Navy through the relief frequency during the tripartite meetings of Naqoura. However, Lebanon repeatedly refused any direct contact, stressing that contacts between both parties must take place according to UNIFIL related conventions.        

The sources said that during Naqoura meetings, Israelis are calling for security arrangements at sea while Lebanese respond that they are not ready to take any security measure along the Lebanese maritime border before setting a line of buoys in the right place off Ras Naqoura.       

Lebanese military sources said that this line is currently present within the territorial waters of Lebanon, adding that it should be pushed between 200 and 800 meters to the south. “If this line is put in the right place, the army will be compelled to prevent anyone who tries to overpass the territorial waters from the south.      

The military sources revealed that both Israelis and Lebanese called on the UNIFIL to intervene and determine the maritime line. During the last meeting in Naqoura, an agreement was reached stipulating that the UNIFIL holds bilateral contacts with both parties to agree on a maritime demarcation line.         

On the other hand, the spokesperson for the Israeli army said that a decision of cooperation between the Israeli Navy and the Lebanese Navy requires a political decision.     

“We are glad that the Lebanese army agreed to cooperate with us, but the second party is not a good factor every time; we remember the Lebanese sniper who killed Lieutenant Colonel Dov Harari two years ago”, an officer in the Israeli Navy told Haaretz daily.        

For his part, the commander of the unit of Dvora said “our ambition is to see the Lebanese army face vessels that come near the border, but the problem lies in distance; if a vessel approaches the coast of al-Zeeb or Ras Naqoura, the failure to report the incident at the right time will prevent the abortion of the process”.