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@Spotlight created a Debate
9 months ago
Gaza’s natural gas reserves!
In 2019, a study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), revealed that there were "significant reservoirs of oil and natural gas" found off the coast of Gaza, as well as under the occupied West Bank, but added that the occupation "continues to prevent Palestinians from developing their energy fields so as to exploit and benefit from such assets"
In November, writing for the MEE, Seyed Hossein Mousavian (Middle East Security and Nuclear Policy Specialist at Princeton University, and a former Chief of Iran’s National Security Foreign Relations Committee), reminded us that the Oslo II Accord gave the Palestinian Authorities (PA) jurisdiction over its waters, up to 20 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza. Then, in November 1999, the PA signed a 25-year contract for gas exploration with the British Gas Group (BGG) and BGG subsequently found that Gaza had an estimated gas reserve of about 1.4 trillion cubic feet.
Mousavian then reminds us that, coincidentally, on the 29th October 2023, just 3 weeks after the 7th October Hamas attack, Israel issued 12 licenses to six companies (including BP and Italy's ENI), for natural gas exploration. Perhaps even more of a coincidence is the fact that back in September (weeks before the Oct 7th attack), at the G20 summit, the US, Israel and the EU had announced plans to build an economic corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe, positioning Israel as a major exporter of gas and oil.
Mousavian makes the point, given that Israel's current military objective is to occupy Gaza and expel Palestinians from their homeland - a point supported by statements made by Israeli officials, such as defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who declared that Israel was planning to “eliminate everything” and Gideon Sa’ar (Minister without portfolio), saying that Gaza “must be smaller at the end of the war,” as well as an Israeli government “concept paper” proposing to move Gaza’s 2.3 million people to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula - the underlying objective appears to be to “confiscate Gaza's multi-billion-dollar gas resources.”
Perhaps this explains the US's unflinching support for Israel's genocidal campaign and the slaughter of thousands of Palestinian women and children? Frankly, I've yet to discover any other explanation that could stand up to any level of scrutiny, and perhaps it also explains why Netanyahu's government appears to be completely indifferent to the plight of Israeli hostages?
