ARAB LEAGUE CHIEF VISITS GAZA

Arab League chief visits Gaza Strip By Nidal al-Mughrabi – Sun Jun 13, 2:46 pm ET

GAZA (Reuters) – Arab League chief Amr Moussa visited the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the highest Arab official to do so since its seizure by Hamas Islamists in 2007, and called for an end to Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory.Moussa crossed into the enclave from Egypt, two weeks after Israel's deadly interception of a Gaza aid flotilla.This blockade...must be lifted and must be broken and the Arab League decision is very clear in this regard, Moussa said.Egypt had kept its Gaza border largely closed, bolstering Israel's embargo, since Hamas, which won a 2006 election, seized sole control of the Gaza Strip in a war with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction three years ago.But Cairo reopened its Rafah crossing with the enclave after Israeli marines killed nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists in a May 31 raid on a Turkish-flagged aid vessel where passengers with metal rods and knives confronted the boarding party.Palestinian and Arab League officials said Moussa's visit was also aimed at giving momentum to reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah that Egypt has sponsored but which have failed to bridge deep mistrust between the two rivals.In an apparent bid to avoid any impression of Arab League recognition of Hamas's Gaza takeover, Moussa met Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas government, in his home rather than in his office.We see this visit as a practical step along the way toward breaking the siege, Haniyeh, with Moussa at his side, told reporters after their hour-long meeting.But Senior Fatah leader Ashraf Goma said Moussa did not hear anything new from the various political factions and, therefore, the visit showed the gap remained wide and reconciliation was yet a far reaching goal.Goma said Hamas's belief it could gain politically from the aftermath of the deadly Israeli raid on the Flotilla made it less willing to reconcile.

BLOCKADE DISCUSSIONS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks on Friday with Middle East envoy Tony Blair on the blockade.Echoing an Israeli statement after that meeting, Netanyahu told reporters on Sunday Israel would continue discussions with the international community to prevent weapons and military equipment from reaching Gaza and to allow in humanitarian aid, an apparent signal it was open to revising blockade procedures.Amid an international outcry over the bloodshed in the flotilla raid, Israel has faced mounting pressure to ease or lift a blockade critics have described as collective punishment.Speaking at a news conference as he concluded a day-long visit, Moussa voiced satire at Israel's trivial ease up of the blockade.

Taking Mayonnaise and Tomatoe salad off the ban list is not a relaxation of the siege. It is a trivial thing that makes someone laughs, Moussa said.Meeting on Sunday with members of his Likud party, Netanyahu said a retired Israeli Supreme Court justice, Jacob Turkel, would head a committee that Israel intends to establish to investigate the raid on the flotilla, officials said.Pending the outcome of consultations with the United States, Israel has not made any formal announcement of the composition of the committee, which Israeli officials said would likely include foreign observers. Washington has backed a U.N. Security Council statement that called for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation, conforming to international standards into the Israeli naval interception. The White House has said it is open to different ways of ensuring the credibility of an Israeli-led investigation, including international participation.Israel has rejected any external, international board of inquiry, saying it had a right to launch a probe on its own.(Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)

Israel's Barak calls off Paris visit amid threats
Sun Jun 13, 5:08 am ET

JERUSALEM – Israel's defense minister is canceling a planned visit to Paris amid threats by pro-Palestinian groups to have him arrested there.Ehud Barak was to dedicate a new Israeli booth at the Eurosatory arms fair in Paris, which opens this week. But his office announced Sunday that he would stay home while Israel forms a committee to investigate its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.Pro-Palestinian activists had threatened to try to have charges brought against him for his role in the raid, which killed nine Turkish activists at sea.Activists have previously tried to arrest Barak and other Israeli officials in Europe under the principle of universal jurisdiction.That principle allows the prosecution of suspected war criminals in countries that have no direct connection with the events.

EU presidency urges strong, joint Gaza position
Sat Jun 12, 11:32 am ET

MADRID (AFP) – Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, called Saturday for a strong, joint EU position on Gaza and Israel's blockade.We want to forge a strong, joint EU position towards what happened in Gaza and the humanitarian situation in that area, he said after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.Zapatero said his foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, would propose to his EU colleagues at a meeting on Monday that the 27-nation bloc clearly declare itself in favour of ending the blockade of the Gaza Strip.Moratinos said in a television interview this week that the ministers would discuss a plan for lifting the blockade in order to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and people.A draft text prepared for the ministers meeting in Luxembourg said Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza is unacceptable and counterproductive, including from the point or view of Israel's security.The ministers are to take into account the security concerns of Israel, which fears that arms and other military materials could be smuggled in with legitimate aid.So the EU will call for the opening of borders under a new mechanism with a list of prohibited goods and strict control over the destination of imported and exported merchandise, according to the text.

Abbas said that he is "satisfied with the EU's role and political position" on Gaza.

The Palestinian leader characterised his talks this week in Washington with US President Barack Obama as constructive, which focused on US-facilitated indirect talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.Zapatero said we hope... that with the efforts of President Obama we will be able within a reasonable time to move to direct dialogue and negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.The last round of direct negotiations between the two sides collapsed in December 2008 when Israel launched a devastating offensive against the Gaza Strip in a bid to halt Palestinian rocket fire aimed at Israeli towns.

Egypt activists denied Gaza entry: official
Sat Jun 12, 11:28 am ET

RAFAH, Egypt (AFP) – Egypt banned hundreds of activists from Gaza, igniting protests at the Rafah border that is the only non-Israeli entry into the Palestinian enclave, a security official said on Saturday.Hundreds of Egyptian activists headed to the Rafah border crossing on Friday but were denied entry into the Gaza Strip, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.They spent the night in front of the crossing asking to be let in and continued protesting on Saturday, the official said.

Carrying Palestinian flags, they chanted Palestine is Arab,Open the border,and Lift the blockade, witnesses told AFP.The impoverished enclave of 1.5 million people has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.By Saturday afternoon, most of the activists had started making their way back to Cairo, the official said.Authorities also denied entry to two trucks carrying humanitarian aid sent by the people of the Egyptian province of Daqahliya.Authorities forced the truck drivers to head back to the (north Sinai) town of El-Arish saying that the Rafah crossing was only for the passage of people not goods, one of the organisers, MP Mohsen Radi, said.Amid the international outcry over an Israeli commando operation against a Gaza-bound aid flotilla which killed nine Turkish activists in international waters on June 1, Egypt announced it was opening its Rafah border crossing.The surprise move has allowed some additional aid into Gaza but only some Palestinians, such as those seeking treatment or study abroad, are permitted to cross.The Egyptian opposition has long campaigned against the government's refusal to fully open the Gaza border, even at the height of the deadly offensive which Israel launched against the territory in December 2008.Opposition parties have accused the authorities of being complicit in the Israeli blockade through their construction of an underground barrier intended to prevent smugglers tunnelling under the border.

Abbas: Hope eroding for two-state Mideast solution
Fri Jun 11, 12:25 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed concern on Thursday that hope was waning for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.

The concept of a Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace and security I fear is beginning to erode, Abbas told an audience at the Brookings Institution a day after meeting President Barack Obama.The world is starting not to believe, to distrust, that we are able to reach this solution, Abbas said.Slogans were appearing in the West Bank calling for a single-state solution, something both sides would reject. This is something we do not accept and Israel also does not accept, he said.

Abbas was visiting Washington amid an international backlash against Israel over the deaths of nine pro-Palestinian activists killed when Israeli troops boarded a Turkish aid ship headed toward the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been due to visit Obama on June 1, the day after the incident, but scrapped his trip due to the crisis. He is working to reschedule a White House meeting by the end of the month, U.S. and Israeli officials said.Abbas told the think tank's audience he had urged Obama to support an international investigation of the ship raid. He said they also discussed the issue of when to move from proximity talks mediated by U.S. Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell to direct negotiations.The Palestinian leader said he was prepared to go to direct talks with Netanyahu if the two sides could find common ground on two key points.We would like to reach a solution on the two initial issues, meaning the borders and the security, Abbas said.He said the Palestinians had given their position on the issues to Mitchell to discuss with Netanyahu. If Netanyahu agreed with the groundwork approved by prior Israeli governments, then we could start direct negotiations to compete the remaining issues, Abbas said.We must not forget the other issues. The final status issues: the settlements, the refugees, Jerusalem, water, and we added another item, which is the prisoners, the Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails,Abbas said.He said Obama, who launched his peace effort when he took office last year, expressed hope for signs of progress in the talks by the end of the year.(Reporting by David Alexander; editing by Chris Wilson)

Most Israelis back government in wake of boat raid: poll
Fri Jun 11, 5:58 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Most Israelis back their rightwing government in the wake of the botched May 31 assault on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that sparked international outrage, a poll said on Friday.The survey found that 57 percent of Israelis trust their political and military leaders more or just as before, while 37 percent trust (them) less or didn't trust them before.Israel has faced a wave of international criticism of the raid, in which nine Turkish activists were shot dead by naval commandos who were attacked with clubs and knives aboard one of the ships when they boarded them in international waters.When asked if they were concerned that their country was becoming isolated internationally, 52 percent of respondents answered no and 41 percent said yes.The poll also found that most Israelis support the blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, with 59 percent saying it is more beneficial than harmful and just 25 percent saying the opposite.The survey, carried out by the Dialog group for the centre-left Haaretz newspaper, also found that Israelis would vote for an even more right-leaning government if elections were held today.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hawkish Likud would pick up six seats to win 33 in the 120-member parliament. That compared to 27 for the centrist Kadima, which won the most seats in 2009 elections (28) but was unable to form a government.The ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu would come in third with 13 seats (down from 15 in the current parliament), followed by the ultra-Orthodox Shas with 10 (down from 11) and the centre-left Labour with eight (down from 15).The poll surveyed 500 respondents who constitute a representative sample of the population and had a margin of error of 4.3 percentage point. Where responses do not total 100 percent respondents declined to answer or had no opinion.

Israel cool to plan for EU checks at Gaza borders
Thu Jun 10, 11:15 am ET

MONTREAL (AFP) – Israel is reluctant to grant European Union oversight of Gaza-bound ships in the wake of the Jewish state's raid on an aid flotilla, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.Israel's response to the EU proposal is rather negative,Kouchner told reporters in Montreal on Wednesday at the International Economic Forum of the Americas.Kouchner has said the EU could defuse tensions around Gaza by checking the cargo on ships bound for the tiny Palestinian coastal enclave as well as the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into the Hamas-controlled territory.

Providing further details of the proposal made last week, the French diplomatic chief said the checks could take place in Cyprus, which, unlike Gaza, has a deepwater port. Cargo could also be unloaded in the Israeli port of Ashdod.This would simplify the checks,he added, though acknowledging the plan is not a success for now.According to Kouchner, there would also be a list of banned products, but not a blanket ban on merchandise delivered to the Palestinians.He expressed pessimism for the Rafah proposal, saying it's not certain this would work because our Egyptian friends do not want us to speak directly with Hamas.But Kouchner said he believed the deadlock would end one way or another and that a whole range of proposals should be offered so that one eventually succeeds.

Obama says Mideast progress possible this year by Stephen Collinson – Thu Jun 10, 5:36 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama is pledging unwavering commitment to forging significant progress in the Middle East this year, despite the furor whipped up by Israel's raid on a Gaza aid flotilla.Welcoming Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to the White House on Wednesday, Obama promised the full weight of US diplomacy on the latest crisis and vowed to coax Israelis and Palestinians out of a dead end and into direct peace talks.He also unveiled 400 million dollars of US aid for Gaza and the West Bank for housing, education and infrastructure, as part of a US commitment to improve the day-to-day lives of Palestinians.The president also called the humanitarian situation unsustainable and warned a Palestinian state was the only long-term solution.The White House talks came with the Arab world still livid about the Israeli raid on the aid flotilla on May 31, which killed nine activists, and amid frantic US efforts to stop the uproar derailing peace efforts.

Telling Abbas he remained deeply committed to spending personal political capital in the Middle East, Obama said he still believes there could be significant progress in the peace process this year.The US leader said it may be possible to take the tragedy over the Gaza aid convoy and turn it into an opportunity to create a situation where lives in Gaza are actually, directly improved.Abbas said that the aid package was positive.He told Obama in front of reporters the Palestinians were willing to proceed to direct talks with Israel, but only after progress in the current US-mediated proximity discussions.The Palestinian leader urged the Obama administration to help implement a two-state solution as quickly as possible.The two-state solution is no longer only a Palestinian interest or an Israeli interest or a Middle East interest, but it is also an American interest,he added on the televised Charlie Rose interview show.As Obama seeks to inject new momentum into peace moves, both the White House and the Israeli government said they were trying to finalize arrangements for a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this month.The Israeli leader had been due here last week, to smooth over tensions that flared during his last visit, but the Gaza crisis forced him to cancel.Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, who attended the Oval Office meeting, meanwhile said US envoy George Mitchell would go back to the Middle East next week for more proximity talks.Erakat said Abbas had come to the United States with the message that progress was urgently needed.Time is of the essence, that's his message, we need to see genuine movement in the direction of a two-state solution and ending the occupation, he told AFP.Obama also called on Israel to live up to UN Security Council conditions on probing the flotilla raid, which laid out the need for credible, international involvement.I've said to the Israelis directly... it is in Israel's interest to make sure that everybody knows exactly how this happened so that we don't see these kinds of events occurring again,he added.

But Israel has rejected any international inquiry into the affair, amid calls for an easing of the three-year blockade of Gaza. Earlier, Netanyahu said he was in talks with several members of the international community but added that a probe should not focus on the role of Israeli soldiers in the raid. While stressing Israel had a right to make sure arms were not smuggled into Gaza, Obama said a framework should be hashed out to allow some non-arms shipments to reach the tiny Palestinian coastal enclave. The White House said the aid package for Palestinians would help increase access to clean drinking water, create jobs, build schools, expand the availability of affordable housing, and address critical health and infrastructure needs.The money will be mostly funneled through the US Agency for International Development and the United Nations Relief Works Agency, which deals with Palestinian refugees. The United States avoids dealing with Gaza's ruling Hamas, which it deems a terrorist organization, and has worked to shore up the West Bank government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Obama's pledge of aid for Gaza and the West Bank drew an angry response from Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who branded it a bailout of the Palestinian leadership.The help sends the message that standing in the way of peace and freedom can be quite profitable,she said, calling for cutting off US government aid to the Palestinian Authority and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

No lifting of Gaza blockade without soldier visits: Israel
Thu Jun 10, 4:43 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel will not lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip unless the Islamist Hamas movement allows the Red Cross to visit an Israeli soldier captured in 2006, its foreign minister said on Thursday.We must say clearly that the minimal condition for lifting the blockade is for the Red Cross to be allowed to regularly visit Gilad Shalit, Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement, referring to the 23-year-old conscript.As long as this condition is not fulfilled, there is no reason to change the situation, he added.Hamas swiftly rejected the remarks, calling Israel's linking of Shalit's fate to the blockade an attempt to mislead and cover up international efforts to break the siege.The Islamist movement has said it will only release Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, including several political leaders and top militants responsible for scores of deadly attacks.Israel has faced a surge of international criticism over the blockade -- which keeps out all but basic goods -- in the wake of its deadly seizure of an activist aid flotilla on May 31.It first imposed the closures when Shalit was captured by Hamas and other militants in a deadly cross-border raid in June 2006 and tightened the sanctions when the Islamist group seized power in Gaza a year later.

Israel says the closures are necessary to contain Hamas -- which is pledged to its destruction -- and pressure it to release Shalit, while critics of the closures say they amount to collective punishment.The closures have severely hindered rebuilding efforts following Israel's devastating December 2008 war on Gaza, which severely damaged or destroyed thousands of homes in the impoverished territory.Most consumer goods are brought in through smuggling tunnels from Egypt, but construction materials are beyond the means of most of Gaza's 1.5 million residents, 80 percent of whom rely on foreign aid.US President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was unsustainable and France has suggested reopening Gaza's Rafah crossing with Egypt and its seaways with the presence of European monitors.Hamas has said it is not opposed to a European presence on the border and that it would consider allowing the European Union to search Gaza-bound ships.

Arab lawmaker on flotilla sparks outrage in Israel By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jun 10, 4:41 am ET

JERUSALEM – An Israeli-Arab lawmaker's decision to join hundreds of activists on a pro-Palestinian flotilla has elevated her from relative political obscurity, transforming her into the poster child for the growing rift between Israel's Jewish majority and its Arab minority.Unapologetic for defying Israel's Gaza blockade and being on board the boat where activists clashed with Israeli commandos during last week's raid on the flotilla, Hanin Zoabi has received death threats, was nearly assaulted in parliament and faces high-level calls to strip her of Israeli citizenship.In an interview, Zoabi said she has no regrets. She says she was on a different part of the ship, far away from the violence that left nine activists dead and dozens wounded after the naval troops rappelled onto the boats in international waters and clashed with knife and club-wielding Turkish activists. She further enraged Israelis by accusing the military of sparking the bloodshed.The Israeli military is like a rapist that gets scratched and then blames the victim, she told The Associated Press.Israel acts like a bully. Its barbaric behavior violates international laws.Zoabi's participation on the blockade-busting flotilla was widely seen as a provocation in Israel even before the violence. Israel considers Gaza's Hamas rulers to be terrorists, and announced ahead of time that it would not allow the flotilla, led by a Turkish Islamic charity with ties to Hamas, to reach the territory.

But when it emerged that Zoabi was on the ship carrying the Turkish activists involved in the violence, she faced a wave of accusations of treason.The charges have highlighted the schism between Israeli-Arabs and their Jewish counterparts as Israel is facing widespread condemnation over the incident and is still struggling with the seemingly untenable peace process with the Arabs.Israeli Arabs make up about one-fifth of Israel's population. Although they enjoy equal citizenship rights, they have suffered from decades of discrimination, high unemployment, poverty and are often viewed through a prism of mistrust.A Palestinian uprising last decade, as well as wars against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Hamas, have added to the tensions as Arab politicians have sided with Israel's enemies. Just two weeks ago, Israel indicted two prominent Arab activists for allegedly spying for Hezbollah.The former leader of Zoabi's Balad party, Azmi Bishara, fled Israel in 2007 after police charged him with passing information to Hezbollah agents during Israel's war against the Lebanese militia the previous year.Ahmad Tibi, an Arab parliamentarian from a more mainstream Arab party, said he too has been subjected to death threats in the wake of the flotilla bloodshed.He said relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel have yet to heal since the outbreak of the bloody Palestinian uprising in 2000, when 13 Arab citizens of Israel were killed in clashes with police.

During times of violent conflicts, there is an increase in tensions, he said. Any time we take a position it is always interpreted as treason, as stabbing Israel in the back.Zoabi, 41, has irked Israel before by calling it a racist state and boycotting the playing of the national anthem when she was sworn into parliament last year.But her proximity last week to the Turks aboard the Mavi Marmara vessel sparked unprecedented outrage.Go to Gaza, you traitor, lawmaker Miri Regev screamed at her in Arabic in parliament. Another member of parliament, Yoel Hasson, called her a terrorist and suggested she be searched for weapons when entering the building.

Hanin Zoabi has crossed every possible line,he said.I told her you should be singing the praise of Israel for being a democracy that allows even someone like you to behave the way you are behaving.Another lawmaker, Anastassia Michaeli from the ultranationalist Yisrael Beiteinu faction, had to be physically restrained from lunging at the podium to grab the microphone while Zoabi was speaking. Someone who is a traitor and does not identify with the country they represent cannot be in parliament,Michaeli said in an interview.She doesn't represent the Israeli Arabs — she represents the terror organizations.On Monday, a parliamentary committee sanctioned Zoabi for her actions aboard the flotilla, recommending that she be stripped of parliamentary privileges, such as her diplomatic passport. Israel's Interior Minister, Eli Yishai, has asked legal authorities to investigate whether Zoabi should lose her citizenship. Zoabi remained unfazed by the storm surrounding her.I understand that the rage stems from racism. Israeli society lives in a ghetto mentality,she said.I despise the Israeli parliament and its political violence.

Zoabi, a former school teacher, comes from a political family. Her great-uncle, Seif al-Din Zoabi, was mayor of the Arab-Israeli city of Nazareth and a member of the Israeli parliament shortly after it was established. Another relative, Abed al-Aziz Zoabi, was the first Arab to serve as a deputy Cabinet minister. Her departure from her mainstream lineage reflects the shift in Israeli-Arab politics. Zoabi rejects Israel as a Jewish state and thinks Jews should not receive preferential treatment. I feel very loved on the Arab street and around the world,she said. In Israel, among the Jews, I am the most hated person around.

US Senator unveils pro-Israel resolution in flotilla feud
Wed Jun 9, 5:53 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A top Republican US Senator on Wednesday unveiled a resolution fully supporting Israel's actions in its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound ship, while condemning the pro-Palestinian activists aboard.Republican Senator John Cornyn's non-binding measure, if approved, would affirm the US Senate's belief that Israel has an inherent and undeniable right to defend itself against any threat to the safety of its citizens.Many US lawmakers have expressed strong support for Washington's staunchest Middle East ally since the May 31 Israeli commando raid on the Mavi Marmara ship, which left nine activists dead, though some have pleaded for patience until the full facts of the operation are known.The ship was part of a flotilla that aimed to break the blockade Israel imposed on Gaza in 2006 after the capture of one of its soldiers and tightened the following year when the Islamist Hamas movement seized power.Cornyn's resolution would reaffirm US support for Israel and condemn the violent attack and provocation by extremists aboard the Mavi Marmara, who created a highly destabilizing incident in a region that cannot afford further instability.It also aimed to condemn any future such attempts to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza for the purpose of creating or provoking violent confrontation or otherwise undermining the security of Israel.The measure would condemn Hamas for rejecting Israel's right to exist, for its human rights abuses against Gaza's people, and its opposition to Middle East peace efforts, and would condemn Iran for supporting Hamas.It also would encourage Turkey, which expressed outrage at the raid, to recognize the importance of continued strong relations with Israel and express profound disappointment with the counterproductive actions of the United Nations regarding this incident.

Lebanon speaker urges fast action on offshore gas reserves
Wed Jun 9, 3:26 pm ET

BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday urged his government to begin exploring offshore natural gas reserves, warning that neighbouring Israel planned to lay claim to the prospective resources.Lebanon must take immediate action to defend its financial, political, economic and sovereign rights, said Berri, who has submitted a bill to launch exploration of potential offshore reserves.Exploring our options in this field is our best bet to pay off Lebanon's debts, he told reporters.Lebanon's national debt, among the highest in the world, currently stands at more than 50 billion dollars (41.6 billion euros), equivalent to some 148 percent of GDP.Israel is racing to make the case a fait accompli and was quick to present itself as an oil emirate, ignoring the fact that, according to the maps, the deposit extends into Lebanese waters, he said.In a statement on its website, Norway-based Petroleum Geo-Services recently announced it had explored Lebanese waters which contained valuable information on potential offshore gas reserves in coordination with the Lebanese energy and water ministry.

And US-based Noble Energy said on its website that it had discovered enough natural gas at the Israeli Tamar and Dalit offshore fields to meet Israel's needs for years.
It also announced the Leviathan prospect, offshore Israel in the Rachel and Amit licenses, as its next planned exploration target in the region in the fourth quarter of 2010.Lebanon and Israel remain technically in a state of war and have no diplomatic ties.