Venezuela on Sunday accused neighboring Guyana of granting illegal concessions for oil exploration in disputed territories between the two countries, making clear that it would reserve the right to take any necessary diplomatic measures.
The comments on Sunday came after Guyana said on Saturday that it “has satellite images showing Venezuelan military movements near the South American country’s eastern border with Guyana.”
Venezuela's statement did not deny Guyana's statements about strengthening the army and infrastructure. Instead, the government said it "has the right to strengthen its border forces."
Venezuela stated that Guyana had granted "illegal oil concessions in a Venezuelan maritime area."
The giant oil company, ExxonMobil, said that it “will continue to increase production in offshore fields off Guyana despite the escalation of the regional conflict.”
The two sides have been disputing the border lines for decades, with Venezuela claiming the Essequibo region .
Former Deputy Chief of Palestinian Intelligence: The “Philadelphia Axis” is Netanyahu’s goal in invading Rafah
The former deputy head of the Palestinian Intelligence Service, Major General Muhammad al-Masry, said that the bombing of the city of Rafah has not stopped since the beginning of the war on Gaza and that field operations there began 3 days ago with fire belts.
Al-Masry added in a telephone interview with the “Heliopolis” program on the “etc” channel that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not achieve any military goal by invading Gaza and will not achieve any goal by invading Rafah, according to what was reported by the Egyptian “Sada Al-Balad” website .
He stated that Netanyahu received the green light from US President Joe Biden to invade Rafah.
He stressed that the Israeli Prime Minister's goal in invading Rafah is to reach the Philadelphia axis, separate Rafah from the rest of the Gaza Strip, and put pressure on Hamas in the negotiations currently being held in Egypt.
The Gaza Strip is experiencing catastrophic humanitarian conditions, as the war has entered its 128th day following the intensification of Israeli forces targeting the city of Rafah, which has become the last refuge for more than 1.3 million Palestinians.
The international community is concerned about the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe in the city of Rafah if Israel launches a large-scale attack on the city.