Israel rejects Lebanese revisions to U.S.-mediate maritime deal

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel rejected on Thursday revisions requested by Lebanon to a U.S.-mediated border demarcation proposal, throwing into doubt years of diplomatic efforts to enable both enemy countries to extract gas in or around a disputed Mediterranean prospect.

An Israeli official, announcing Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s decision to reject the revision requests, added that any further negotiations would cease should Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement threaten Israel’s Karish gas rig.

(Writing by Dan Williams)