OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid accused Hezbollah of undermining Lebanon’s efforts to reach an agreement on their disputed energy-rich maritime border, as the new premier hosted his first cabinet meeting Sunday.

Lapid, who retains his previous post as Israel’s foreign minister, took over as prime minister on Friday from Naftali Bennett, his partner in a now defunct eight-party coalition.

On Saturday, Israel’s army said it had intercepted three drones launched by Hezbollah that were headed towards an offshore gas field in the Mediterranean, near a disputed area that is the subject of US-mediated maritime talks.

“Hezbollah is continuing on the path of terrorism and is hurting Lebanon’s ability to reach an agreement on a maritime border,” Lapid said.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement confirmed it had launched drones towards the Mediterranean’s Karish gas field.

Israel said the drones, which were not armed, were downed by a fighter jet and missiles launched from a warship as they headed towards the offshore area.

Israel and previous United Nations maps put Karish within Israel’s maritime borders, and not in the disputed area subject to ongoing negotiations.