Israel Rejects Lebanon’s Revisions On US-Brokered Gas Deal

The US handed over the long-negotiated written proposal – that could lead to possible profit-sharing from future gas production by Beirut in a disputed Mediterranean prospect -- to Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Saturday to potentially resolve a maritime border dispute between Israel and Lebanon. 

According to the Lebanese presidency, Aoun met with US ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea and received the written proposal from US mediator Amos Hochstein. Beirut is studying the 10-page draft, details of which have not been made public.

Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah, which is a declared enemy of Israel and previously voiced suspicions over any demarcation deal, called the draft "a very important step".

Israeli approval of the draft awaited legal review, Prime Minister Yair Lapid told his cabinet at its weekly session, "but," he said in televised remarks, "just as we insisted from day one, the proposal fully preserves Israel's national security interests, as well as our economic interests".

Lapid implied that as per the arrangement gas would be produced by a company under a Lebanese license in the disputed Qana prospect, with Israel receiving a share of revenues.

“Such a field would weaken Lebanese dependency on Iran, restrain Hezbollah and bring regional stability," he said. 

The demonstrations led to clashes between protesters and security forces in the center of Baghdad as thousands of Iraqis had gathered around the city’s iconic Tahrir Square to mark three years since nationwide demonstrations erupted against endemic corruption that caused rampant unemployment and the country’s decaying infrastructure. Dozens of people were injured during the scuffles.

Protesters also chanted slogans against the Islamic Republic and demanded an end to its influence and interventions in Iraq. 

The latest protests in Baghdad come as Iraq has been mired in political paralysis since elections one year ago that have failed to bring in a new president, prime minister or government. 

According to Iraqi media reports, Iran-backed militia groups in Basra fired several Iranian-made rockets at people's houses on Friday night. This is the latest attack in a wave of missile and drone strikes by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards targeted at Kurdish groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. 

Amid nationwide protests in Iran sparked by the death in custody of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has stepped up its attacks on the region, apparently aimed at intimidating the Kurds.

In solidarity with residents of Iraqi Kurdistan, many business owners have launched strikes in Iran’s Kordestan province and other western provinces with Kurdish population. 

Iran International learned late on Wednesday that a US citizen named Omar Mahmoudzadeh, aka Chicho, has been killed in the IRGC's missile and drone attacks against the positions of Kurdish groups opposed to the Islamic Republic in Iraqi Kurdistan. He lived in the US since 1990s.

The Erbil Emergency has confirmed to Iran International’s correspondent that a pregnant woman named Reyhaneh has been killed in the IRGC drone and missile strikes on Wednesday.

Condemning the unprovoked attacks, the US CENTCOM said, “Such indiscriminate attacks threaten innocent civilians & risk the hard-fought stability of the region. No US forces were wounded or killed as a result of strikes."

The CENTCOM also announced that "US forces brought down an Iranian Mohajer-6 drone headed in the direction of Erbil as it appeared as a threat to CENTCOM forces in the area. CENTCOM forces, in support of partnered forces in Iraq, are assessing the situation.”

The US State Department also condemned Iran's use of ballistic missiles and drone attacks against the Iraqi Kurdistan region, calling it "an unjustified violation of Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity." “We further condemn comments from Iran government’s threatening additional attacks against Iraq.”

Amid nationwide protests in Iran sparked by the death in custody of a Kurdish girl, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard attacked the region for the fifth consecutive day, apparently aimed at intimidating the Kurds. 

On Wednesday, the IRGC once again launched artillery and suicide drone attacks against the positions of Kurdish groups opposed to the Islamic Republic in the Iraqi Kurdistan including Komala and Democratic Party as well as the Parti Azadi Kurdistan, aka PAK (Kurdistan Freedom Party).

Iran International has learned that a school close to the headquarters of the Democratic Party was also targeted by the IRGC’s retaliatory attacks, which injured several students.

The United States was quick to condemn Iran's use of ballistic missiles and drone attacks against the Iraqi Kurdistan region and called it "an unjustified violation of Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"Moreover, we further condemn comments from the government of Iran threatening additional attacks against Iraq," the US State Department said in a statement.

The IRGC has so far attacked Iraq’s Koysancak and Soran districts in Erbil, along with Kirkuk’s Altınkopru and Sulaymaniyah’s Zirgvez, claiming that its Ground Force has used pinpoint accuracy missiles and suicide drones to attack the positions in the Iraqi Kurdistan which “played the most important role in the recent riots in Iran.”

At least nine people were killed and dozens more injured in the IRGC’s missile and drone attacks against PAK positions. 

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) urged the Islamic Republic to immediately stop its attacks. 

President Michel Aoun's six-year term ends on October 31, and politicians have voiced concern about no successor being found - warning of even greater institutional deadlock given that Lebanon has also been without a fully functioning government since May.

The session will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The votes of two-thirds of lawmakers in the 128-member legislature are required for a candidate to be successful in the first round of voting, after which a simple majority suffices.

Aoun came to power after a 29-month presidential vacuum in which parliament was unable to agree on electing a president.

The stalemate ended with a series of deals that secured victory for Aoun and his powerful Iran-backed ally Hezbollah, which still holds a lot of power within the sectarian division in Lebanon.

Aoun is limited to one term, and major political parties have not announced any agreement on his successor, although many blame the militant group and Iran for the country's problems.

Lebanon has been in economic turmoil since 2019, when its banking system and the government went bankrupt, and citizens lost their foreign currency deposits. The national currency has lost most of its value and many middle-class people struggle for a living.