Lebanon asks US to stop Israeli violations

Lebanon’s president says he has asked visiting US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to work on preventing ongoing Israeli violations of its sovereignty.

President Michel Aoun made the comments during a meeting with Tillerson at the presidential palace on Thursday. According to Aoun’s office, he also told Tillerson that Lebanon rejects Israeli claims over parts of the countries’ maritime border where Lebanon will be drilling for oil and gas.

Tillerson arrived in the Lebanese capital earlier in the day as part of a regional tour.

The visit coincides with heightened tensions between Lebanon and its southern neighbor over oil and gas reserves and Israel’s construction of a border wall that Lebanon says encroaches on its territory.

Lebanon is also protesting Israeli violations of Israeli airspace, often to bomb targets inside neighboring Syria.

— AP