(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid rejected the “material” changes that Lebanon is seeking in a US-brokered pact to demarcate a maritime border between the two countries, according to a senior official.

Israel plans to begin gas production from the offshore Karish field as soon as possible, the official said in a briefing. All talks on the maritime border will halt immediately if Hezbollah, the Iranian-sponsored Lebanese militant group, tries to attack the rig, the official said.

Lapid said last week that Israel and Lebanon received a US proposal for a deal to demarcate the contested maritime border. London-listed Energean Plc, set to operate Karish, said in May that gas flows could start this year.

Read more: 

• Israel, Lebanon Receive US Envoy’s Maritime Border Proposal
• Israel Moves Gas Vessel to Karish Field in Move Angering Lebanon

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