Unspoken Objective: Israel Wants to Confiscate Gazaâs Offshore Gas Reserves Which Belong to Palestine
Review of Haaretz Article entitled "U.S. to Push Israel on Allowing Gaza Offshore Gas Reserves to Revitalize Palestinian Economy"
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Introduction
According to Haaretz (See Full Report by Ben Samuels and Amir Tibon below):
Amos Hochstein, U.S. President Joe Bidenâs energy security advisor, is currently visiting Israel to discuss preventing a second front from opening between Israel and Lebanon amid ongoing clashes with Hezbollah, as well as potential economic revitalization plans for Gaza centered around undeveloped offshore natural gas fields.
Bidenâs Envoy Hochstein âwas most recently in Bahrain, where he discussed the opportunity to develop offshore gas fields on behalf of the Palestinians as part of plans for post-war Gaza.â
âIsrael gave preliminary approval for the development of a gas field off Gazaâs coast in June, stressing it would require security coordination with both the PA and Egypt. The Gaza Marine field, nearly 20 miles off Gazaâs coast, has remained undeveloped despite holding an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This total is hypothetically much more than needed to power the Palestinian territories, and some of it could be potentially exported.â Haaretz)
There is More than Meets the Eye.
The Objective is âNot On Behalf of Palestiniansâ Quite the Opposite.
Israel Wants to Confiscate Gazaâs Offshore Gas Reserves Which Belong to Palestine
Netanyahuâs October 2023 declaration of war against 2.3 million people of the Gaza Strip is a continuation of its 2008-2009 invasion of Gaza under âOperation Cast Lead.â The underlying objective is the outright military occupation of Gaza by Israelâs IDF forces and the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland.
There are powerful financial interests which stand to benefit from Israelâs criminal undertaking (Genocide) directed against Gaza. The ultimate objective is not only to exclude Palestinians from their homeland, it consists in confiscating the multi-billion dollar Gaza offshore Natural Gas reserves, namely those pertaining to the BG (BG Group) in 1999, as well the Levant discoveries of 2013.
This is what is contemplated. Outright confiscation with the complicity of Egypt
Egypt-Israel âSecret Bilateral Talksâ
In 2021-22, Egypt and Israel were involved in âsecret bilateral talksâ regarding âthe extraction of natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
âEgypt succeeded in persuading Israel to start extracting natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip, after several months of secret bilateral talks.
This development ⊠comes after years of Israeli objections to extract natural gas off the coast of Gaza on [alleged] security grounds, âŠ
British Gas (BG Group) has also been dealing with the Tel Aviv government.
What is significant is that the civilian arm of the Hamas Gaza government has been bypassed in regards to exploration and development rights over the gas fields:
The field, which lies about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the Gaza coast, was discovered in 2000 by British Gas (currently BG Group) and is estimated to contain more than 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The official in the Egyptian intelligence service told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, âAn Egyptian economic and security delegation discussed with the Israeli side for several months the issue of allowing the extraction of natural gas off the coast of Gaza. âŠAl-Monitor, October 22, 2022
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Egypt and Israel, which had the rubber-stamp of the Palestinian National Authority (PA):
âThe Egyptian official explained that Israel required the start of practical measures to extract gas from the Gaza fields at the beginning of 2024, to ensure its own security. (Al-Monitor, October 22, 2022
The occupation of Gaza is intent upon confiscating Palestineâs maritime gas reserves, starting in early 2024, as outlined in the Secret bilateral Agreement between Egypt and Israel.
This initiative will NOT âRevitalize the Palestinian Economyâ as outlined in the article below,
Unless Palestinians take full control over offshore gas resources that belong to the State of Palestine, and which Israel wants to confiscate with the support of the Biden Administration.
Egypt is in on the game
Cairo is complicit with total disregard for the rights of Palestinians.
Itâs a criminal undertaking.
Egypt will establish refugee camps in the Sinai desert in coordination with Israel and the U.S., in exchange for a token participation in the exploitation of Gazaâs maritime, which are worth billions and billions of dollars.
For more analysis, see the following articles,
.
By Felicity Arbuthnot and Prof Michel Chossudovsky, November 26,
War and Natural Gas: The Israeli Invasion and Gazaâs Offshore Gas Fields
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, October 21, 2023
Michel Chossudovsky, November 26, 2023
***
U.S. to Push Israel on Allowing Gaza Offshore Gas Reserves
to Revitalize Palestinian Economy
by Ben Samuels and Amir Tibon
Haaretz, November 20, 2023
Amos Hochstein, U.S. President Joe Bidenâs energy security advisor, is currently visiting Israel to discuss preventing a second front from opening between Israel and Lebanon amid ongoing clashes with Hezbollah, as well as potential economic revitalization plans for Gaza centered around undeveloped offshore natural gas fields.
âWhile in Israel, Hochstein will emphasize that restoring calm along Israelâs northern border is of utmost importance to the United States and it should be a top priority for both Israel and Lebanon,â a U.S. official told Reuters.
He has been âbackbriefingâ Israeli officials on his meetings in Lebanon, according to U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
âWe donât want to see this war escalate or widen, we certainly donât believe itâs in anybodyâs interest â certainly not the Israeli people,â Kirby said.
Hochstein was most recently in Bahrain, where he discussed the opportunity to develop offshore gas fields on behalf of the Palestinians as part of plans for post-war Gaza.
Israel gave preliminary approval for the development of a gas field off Gazaâs coast in June, stressing it would require security coordination with both the PA and Egypt. The Gaza Marine field, nearly 20 miles off Gazaâs coast, has remained undeveloped despite holding an estimated 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This total is hypothetically much more than needed to power the Palestinian territories, and some of it could be potentially exported.
âThere is an opportunity here to develop the gas fields in offshore Gaza, on behalf of the Palestinians,â Hochstein told The National, adding âas soon as we get to the day after and this horrible war ends, there are companies willing to develop those fieldsâ.
âWe shouldnât exaggerate its potential, but it can absolutely be a revenue stream for a Palestinian government, and to ensure there is an independent energy system for Palestine,â he continued, adding that there is âclear mechanism that we have developed, that would pose no threat and would maximize the effectiveness for the Palestinian peopleâ.
Hochstein noted that he is â100 percentâ sure Israel would allow this, adding that
âI am very confident, there is no reason for them not to, it is not theirs [the Israelis], the gas belongs to the Palestinian people.â
Click here to read the full article on Haaretz.
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