Israel’s energy minister expressed disappointment at Lebanon’s ‘inability’ to accept US mediation in talks on the demarcation of the maritime border. He believes that Hezbollah is putting pressure on Beirut, Reuters reported. 

US special envoy David Satterfield visited Lebanon and Israel, trying to start talks between countries that formally remain at war since the founding of Israel in 1948.

Israel and Lebanon have long been unable to agree on the issue of demarcation of borders in the eastern Mediterranean, and this problem has acquired particular importance in the last decade, when large reserves of natural gas were discovered there.

Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said earlier that he expects US-initiated talks to begin within a month. On Wednesday, Lebanon insisted that the demarcation of its sea border with Israel be carried out only as part of a wider package, including the land border.

“(The) Lebanese on the one hand really want to develop their natural resources, and the unresolved dispute with Israel is disruptive for them - for us too, but for them more,” Steinitz told Tel Aviv radio station 102 FM.

But Steinetz added Lebanon could also be facing “internal pressure, that they (are) under the sway of fear of Hezbollah”, referring to Lebanon’s most powerful armed force. Hezbollah is also part of the Lebanese coalition government.