Israel and al-Hasbani river

The director of the Israeli water company " Mikorot" Ori Saghi on Wednesday called on the government of Ariel Sharon to prevent Lebanon from pumping waters from al-Hasbani river which springs from Lebanon and pours in the Tiberies lake ( in Israel).

Saghi, who is a reserve General and a former official at the military intelligence said that the pumping operation is illegal. He threatened that Israel knows how to defend its interests. He added " we are able to do so but he refused to admit if he means by that " military options " to solve this problem, saying " water is considered a strategic element that target security."

Meantime, the Israeli radio quoted an official at the ministry of agriculture as saying that Lebanon in June, 2000 just one month after the Israeli withdrawal from the South, had accused Israel of pumping the waters of al-Wazzani river which is one of the tributaries of al-Hasbani river which is situated in the Lebanese territories.

On Tuesday, an Israeli military official said that the Lebanese started to build a system to pump the waters of the al-Hasbani river on the Lebanese side of the border in order to prevent the flow of waters to Israel.