The next serious security test for Lapid and Gantz. Gas should begin to be produced from the Harish rig in September. Nasrallah: We will cut off any hand that tries to rob Lebanon’s natural treasures

Now that the very exaggerated calls of admiration and self-praise for the victory in the confrontation with the Islamic Jihad in Operation Dawn have subsided, Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz face the next security confrontation – which is much more serious, big and important.
Lapid and Gantz have to decide if Israel starts pumping gas from the Harish rig, and if they decide that Israel is no longer waiting for a settlement on the issue with Lebanon, when to decide to do so.
Time is short. In about September, it will be possible to operate the rig and pump gas from it.
Opposite stands the threat of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah according to which if Israel starts pumping the gas Hezbollah will not only attack the Harish rig but all the rigs and gas and oil fields on Israel.
On Monday August 8, Nasrallah said: ‘Lebanon will not tolerate the robbery of its natural treasures’. ‘We have reached the final station and we are determined to take all measures.’ ‘אף אחד לא יכול לאיים עלינו’. Lebanon would not tolerate the plunder of its natural resources; we have reached the final stop, and we are determined to go all the way. No one is going to threaten us.
Nasrallah went on to say: ‘We have heard threats against Lebanon in recent days. Don’t underestimate the value of the Lebanese people since any attack on someone in Lebanon will not go unpunished and we cannot hide it.’
We have heard several threats against Lebanon in recent days; don’t underestimate the Lebanese people because any attack on someone in Lebanon will not go unpunished and we won’t let it slide.
‘Every hand that reaches out to steal the natural treasures of Lebanon-Tagda’, any arm that reaches to steal Lebanon’s wealth will be cut off.
Nasrallah is not the leader of the Jihad Ziad Nakhla, and his words must be taken seriously.
Nasrallah is not threatening an all-out war, but actions that will torpedo the operation of the Harish rig. He can give an order to fire missiles at the rigs, attack them with drones, and even send his naval commandos in front of the rigs to reach them using tiny Iranian-made submarines.
In such a development, next month Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz will face a decision on how to respond to Hezbollah attacks without degenerating Israel and the region into an all-out war.
The area of ​​dispute between Israel and Lebanon in the Sde Charish area covers 860 square kilometers of the Mediterranean Sea. All the American mediation efforts between Jerusalem and Beirut have so far borne no fruit. American mediator Amos Hochstein, who was in Beirut and Jerusalem just last week, always expresses optimism that there is progress in the talks. Lebanon urgently needs an agreement because of its precarious economic situation. However, Hezbollah every time thwarts the possibility of reaching such an agreement.