Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday stressed that Israel is looking for new ways to create another major dispute like that of Shebaa farms, but in a maritime border dispute this time.

“Israel wants to ignite a new Shebaa farms’ dispute, but this time in the sea. Lebanon has been engaged in arduous negotiations with Israel for five years, but the Lebanese position remains unchanged. Political battles with the [Israeli] enemy are no less dangerous or important than military battles,” Berri said during his meeting with a delegation of the Arab Organization of Young Lawyers in Ain Tineh.

“It is unfortunate that we have drastically failed in the Arab nations’ issues, because we have abandoned two main concerns, the Palestinian cause and the maritime gas field,” he added.

“Our oil wealth was not spent on sustainable human development and on building the nation’s strength neither on the unity of its stances,” Berri criticized.

Berri reiterated the country’s support to the Palestinian cause despite the fact that some Arab nations have drifted apart from this political and national cause and are instead focusing on Arab or Muslim conflicts.

Lebanon and Israel have been trying to demarcate the southern border, where some 856 square kilometers of waters are disputed on. Recently, the U.S. held mediated negotiations between the two countries, led by senior U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield, to reach a decision but failed.