Hezbollah threatens Israel with escalation in border spat

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group has threatened Israel with military escalation if a future deal over the disputed maritime border between the two countries is not in Lebanon’s favor. Hassan Narallah said in a televised speech Wednesday night that sending unarmed drones over the Karish gas field in the Mediterranean earlier this month was “a modest beginning to where the situation could be heading.” Lebanon wants foreign companies to extract oil and gas in Lebanese waters. Israel and Hezbollah are bitter enemies that fought a monthlong war in the summer of 2006. Israel considers the Iranian-backed Lebanese group its most serious immediate threat.