BEIRUT: Lebanon will exhaust all legitimate and available means to defend its maritime borders and resources, President Michel Sleiman said Monday, warning Israel not to take any decision in violation of international law. 

“Lebanon is determined and willing to defend its land and maritime borders, protect its rights and resources with all available and legitimate means,” Sleiman said in a statement.

Israel’s approval Sunday of a map demarcating its maritime borders with Lebanon has sparked reactions from various Lebanese officials, all of whom have affirmed the country’s right to protect its maritime resources.

During the Israeli cabinet session Sudnay, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the lines delineated in the Lebanese proposal, which was submitted to the United Nations in August 2010, are significantly further south than those recognized by Israel and determined in previous deals, Hareetz newspaper reported. Israel will also submit its maritime border proposal to the U.N. for an opinion. 

Sleiman warned against any unilateral decision that Israel might on its maritime borders that could be in violation of international laws.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour criticized Israel’s proposal in comments published Monday, saying that Israel has expanded its maritime boundaries to put under its control more than 1,500 square kilometers of Lebanese waters in Lebanon’s Special Economic Zone. 

Lebanon’s proposal to the U.N. last year outlined the boundary of its exclusive economic zone in which oil and gas is contained. The zone is said to contain billions of cubic meters of fossil fuel.

Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi told Voice of Lebanon Radio Station Monday that Lebanon’s proposal to the U.N. contained maps and evidence that support its suggested maritime borders with the Jewish state.

As-Safir daily newspaper reported Monday that the disputed area is estimated to be more than 3,000 square kilometers, while the New York Times said that Israel's proposed line stakes out more territory for itself than the one Lebanon drew and submitted to the U.N. in August. 

Israel and Lebanon do not have diplomatic relations and the two countries are in a state of war. Earlier this year, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said that the U.N. may assist Lebanon in protecting oil and gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean from Israeli exploitation. 

Israel has begun drilling in its offshore fields north of the city of Haifa in various fields including Tamar, believed to hold at least 8.4 trillion cubic feet of gas (238 billion cubic meters), and Leviathan which is said to have reserves of 16 trillion cubic feet (450 billion cubic meters).